Summer camps cut short when Arizona fire forces evacuation
ASSOCIATED PRESS
An evacuee from the Goodwin fire enters a Red Cross shelter, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. Forest officials say over a dozen campground and other recreation areas have been closed because of the wildfire in northern Arizona.
PHOENIX >> About 1,400 children had to be evacuated from summer camps led by YMCAs, churches and other youth groups in the area of a major wildfire near the northern Arizona city of Prescott.
Yavapai County Supervisor Tom Thurman says local school buses drove some children to Prescott, where their parents could pick them up. He says no camps had been burned, but he wanted to evacuate them before the fire split in two and cut off both escape routes.
Stone Barras, 8, was sad to leave his summer camp, though.
He says: “I was a little scared about the fire, but I was really sad I had to leave. I was having a lot of fun.”
An estimated 1,100 firefighters are attempting to further contain the fire, which has charred almost 40 square miles since it ignited almost a week ago.
