Wildfires blaze in US state of Arizona

A wildfire believed sparked by inattentive campers is blazing for a 12th straight day in eastern Arizona Thursday. Ranked as Arizona's second-largest forest fire on record, the so-called “Wallow Fire has already completely engulfed one town: the popular mountain retreat of Greer, which had been evacuated days before. Officials report that thousands of people in nearby areas have been forced to flee.

Some 2,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, round the clock. A spokesman for the firefighters, Jim Whittington says conditions make containment extremely difficult. Smoke from the fire has drifted as far east as Iowa.

A separate fire burning in the southeastern part of the state is coming slowly under control, with nearly 1,000 firefighters working through the night on Wednesday to gain the upper hand on the Horseshoe 2 balze that has already consumed nearly 107,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of two small communities. Seven structures were reported lost in that fire, which was listed as 50 percent contained.

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: