Officials in Yavapai County have ordered residents of several small remote mountain communities to evacuate as a wildfire threatens the area. The Prescott National Forest reported zero containment of the fire in a statement on Sunday.
Yavapai County sheriff’s officials sent an evacuation order for residents of Crown King, Minnehaha and Horsethief Cabins on Friday morning. Crown King has more than 100 residents and many vacation cabins. Crown King is a historic mining town that also was evacuated for a 2012 fire that destroyed some homes.
Sheriff’s spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn said between 80 and 100 residents of the communities evacuated Friday and many others left Thursday night. He said about 10 people refused to leave their homes.
The local American Red Cross chapter has opened an evacuation center at Mayer High School in the community of Mayer.
Prescott National Forest officials said the blaze broke out Thursday about seven miles northwest of Crown King and has burned more than five square miles — 13 square kilometers — of juniper, chaparral and timber.