"Southwest Will Have to Wait for Fire-Stifling Rain"

"PHOENIX (AP) -- Crews have made significant progress attacking three major wildfires in Arizona, but fire danger across the Southwest will remain for weeks to come until seasonal rains arrive.

Storms that normally stop the fire threat in the Southwest aren't expected to come until mid-July at the soonest. Officials say that means the large blazes churning across Arizona's forestlands won't be the last.

The state has seen one of its most dangerous fire seasons in years, forestry officials said, with more than 1,500 fires burning 1,300 square miles so far. That total far exceeds 2010, when just 132 square miles burned across the state."

The Associated Press had the story June 22, 2011.