In this Wednesday evening, June 10, 2020 photo, the Bighorn Fire breaks onto the southern slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains and burns over a pair of homes in the foothills just east of the Finger Rock Trailhead in Tucson, Ariz. Pima County authorities have advised residents of foothills area on the northern outskirts of metro Tucson to be prepared to evacuate because of a lightning-sparked wildfire in nearby mountains. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, crew members with the Smokey Bear Hotshots from Ruidoso, N.M., cut line near the mouth of Finger Rock Canyon near Tucson, Ariz., as a precaution against the growing Bighorn Fire being fought in the Santa Catalina Mountain Range. (Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, crew members with the the Smokey Bear and Blue Ridge Hotshots talk near the Finger Rock Canyon trailhead as smoke billows from the Bighorn Fire in the distance, in Tucson, Ariz. (Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, Adam Hutton with the Smokey Bear Hotshots of Ruidoso, N.M., tosses away brush being cut near the mouth of Finger Rock Canyon as a precaution against the growing Bighorn Fire being fought in the Santa Catalina Mountain Range in Tucson, Ariz. (Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, a crew member with the Smokey Bear Hotshots walks along Finger Rock Canyon trail as smoke billows from the Bighorn Fire further up the canyon in Tucson, Ariz. (Josh Galemore/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, a crew member with the Smokey Bear Hotshots carries an armful of freshly cut vegetation as the team cuts line at the base of Finger Rock Canyon in Tucson, Ariz., as a precaution against the Bighorn Fire being fought in the Santa Catalina Mountain Range. (Josh Galemore /Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, a chinook helicopter drops a load of water on the Bighorn Fire as is moves into the top of Finger Rock Canyon and up Mount Kimball in Tucson, Ariz. (Josh Galemore /Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, the Bighorn Fire burns in Pima Canyon and Finger Rock Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020 photo, from alongside Campbell Avenue, a couple takes photos of the Bighorn Fire breaking onto the southern slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains, in Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnel/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
In this Wednesday, June 10, 2020, tinder-dry vegetation bursts into flames during the Bighorn Fire burning above Finger Rock Canyon within the Santa Catalina Mountains in Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Ariz. (Pima County authorities have advised residents of foothills area on the northern outskirts of metro Tucson to be prepared to evacuate because of a lightning-sparked wildfire in nearby mountains. (Rick Wiley/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Hundreds of foothills homes on the outskirts of Tucson remained under an evacuation notice Friday as firefighters supported by helicopters worked to keep a wildfire from moving downhill from canyons and ridges in mountains in a national forest.
Most of the western United States is experiencing extreme dryness or drought, creating challenging conditions for wildfire season, Bryan Henry, meteorologist with the National Interagency Fire Center, said in a recent fire season outlook.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency granted Arizona’s request for money to help fight the fire, officials said Thursday.
Fire officials said the fire’s growth slowed overnight but that it remained a threat. Flames have been visible from Tucson at night, and smoke from the fire plumed over a suburb Friday morning.
Pima County officials on Thursday issued an evacuation notice for approximately 300 homes in a area south of the Coronado National Forest, and numerous other residents were told to prepare to evacuate.
Over 400 firefighters battled the week-old lightning-sparked fire that as of Friday had burned 11 square miles (29 square kilometers) of mostly brush and tall grass.
Fire officials said specialized crews were assessing potential threats to homes and other structures to identify access routes and develop contingency plans in the event of the fire spreading into neighborhoods.
In the neighborhoods closest to the fire, sheriff's deputies checked IDs to confirm that people trying to enter were residents, as helicopters dropped water on hot spots.
Sheriff's officials went door to door in neighborhoods on Thursday to notify residences of the evacuation notice, which a sheriff's spokesman said Friday wasn't mandatory.
“People are not required to leave, however we are telling people we may not be able to come back and assist if things start to burn," said Deputy James Allerton.
No injuries or structural damage was reported, Allerton said.
Travis Mayberry, an operations section chief for the fire management team, said Friday much of the fire was burning in terrain too rugged for grounds crews to work safely, particularly if they needed to escape quickly.
”Ït's not a great place for us to put people in to safely work," he said. “Ït's just too steep.""
Mayberry said crews continued to clear lines to keep the fire away from homes south of the forest and might set additional fires to burn vegetation to slow the wildfire by depriving it of potential fuel.
The fire, sparked June 5 by lightning, was only 10% contained as of Friday morning, and Mayberry said increasing the containment figure would be a slow process..
The dry, hot weather and the steep, rocky topography have been the main challenges in fighting the fire, fire management team Adam Jarrold said Thursday. Temperatures have pushed past 100 degrees (38 Celsius) and the humidity was in single digits.
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Associated Press journalist Paul Davenport contributed to this report.
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