Six Structures Lost in Greer to Wallow Fire; Weather Conditions a Slight Improvement for Firefighters

Greer lost six structures last night to the still-growing Wallow fire, but weather conditions are expected to improve today for firefighters.A U.S. Forest Service spokesman said the blaze, for now, is holding to its eastern borders."It did push into some structures last night, but we were able to push it...

By Ray Stern

June 9, 2011

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Greer lost six structures last night to the still-growing Wallow fire, but weather conditions are expected to improve today for firefighters.

A U.S. Forest Service spokesman said the blaze, for now, is holding to its eastern borders.

"It did push into some structures last night, but we were able to push it back out," said Jim Whittington in a news conference.

"Greer's not out of danger. There's a lot of fire out there, and a lot of heat out there," he said.

A DC-10 will start practicing slurry bomb-runs today, thanks to improved weather conditions, Whittington said. The air was cooler last night than in previous days, resulting in a delayed start to the "fire day," and humidity is up.

Wind still will be a problem, "but not like we were seeing earlier," he said. "It's a good day for aircraft ... and for getting work done."

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.