Backfires Ward Off Disaster Near Phoenix

Using fire to fight fire, crews said they had managed to protect a community that was in the path of the mammoth wildfire spreading through dry brush and grass in rugged central Arizona.

Thanks to successful burnout operations along the southwest flank of the Cave Creek Complex fire, any danger that the fire would reach Black Canyon City had been significantly diminished, fire officials said.

The community of 4,500 is about 40 miles north of Phoenix on Interstate 17.