Eastern Arizona fire claims nearly 350 square miles

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A massive wildfire that has charred more than 350 square miles of forest and scrub land in eastern Arizona raged out of control for a ninth day on Monday as it crept near populated areas along the New Mexico border.

Facing high winds and low humidity, more than 2,300 firefighters battled flames that previously forced the evacuation of two small mountain communities and four residential subdivisions in the vicinity, officials said.

Fire information spokesman Deryl Jevons said gale-force wind gusts were making conditions especially difficult.

"That's going to create some significant fire activity this afternoon," he told Reuters.

The so-called Wallow Fire, burning about 250 miles northeast of Phoenix and stretching to near the Arizona-New Mexico border, ranks as the third-largest fire on record in Arizona. It is at zero percent containment.

Casting an orange glow in the sky that could be seen for miles and belching smoke that drifted as far away as Colorado, the blaze has blackened nearly 234,000 acres, or 364 square miles, of brush and forest land since erupting on May 29, according to state fire authorities.

Fire crews arriving from across the country were concentrating on the east side of the blaze, protecting the town of Luna, New Mexico, and the communities of Alpine and Nutrioso, in Arizona.

Authorities have asked Luna residents to be ready for a possible evacuation. The several hundred residents of Alpine and Nutrioso were ordered out on Thursday, with no estimate given for when they would be able to return.

Four other housing developments in the area were evacuated on Sunday as the fire raged on, officials said.

"The weather that moved across the area really blew out the fire," fire information official Eric Neitzel told Reuters. "That's why we had to evacuate those ranching communities."

Smoke from the wildfire billowed across the region as it spread into New Mexico and parts of Colorado.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer visited the fire scene on Saturday, telling reporters at a news conference it was a "frightening sight" as she viewed it from a plane.

Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 firefighters continued to make gains on Monday against a separate large wildfire burning in the southeastern part of the state.

Officials said the Horseshoe 2 Fire had consumed more than 100,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of two small communities. That fire was listed as 55 percent contained.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Jerry Norton)