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Firefighters Making Progress On Tonto National Forest Wildfires

Firefighters have Arizona’s biggest of the lightning-caused fires in the Tonto National Forest 81% contained. The Griffin Fire has burned more than 61,000 acres.

Fire Information Officer Debbie Maneely says firefighters continue to monitor and conduct suppression efforts. 

“We’re starting to do some suppression repair, which means we go in there, we start chipping up trees and wood and trying to make the landscape look like it did before we got in there and before the fire came in," Maneely said. 

Two other fires are zero percent contained. The Rockhouse Fire has burned over 19,000 acres and the Alder Fire is at 578 acres. Maneely says Super Scoopers are dropping water, suppressing the spread of the fires, but what is really needed is rain.

Jill Ryan joined KJZZ in 2020 as a morning reporter, and she is currently a field correspondent and Morning Edition producer.