Ariz. fire likely set by Mexican smugglers, sheriff says
PALOMINAS, Ariz. — The sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, said on Tuesday that Mexican drug smugglers are likely to blame for a wildfire that has scorched 27,000 acres and destroyed dozens of homes just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The remarks are likely to add to controversy over the origin of recent blazes which saw Arizona Sen. John McCain draw criticism for suggesting some of them could have been started by illegal immigrants.
The so-called Monument Fire erupted a week ago in the Coronado National Forest and roared through steep slopes and rugged canyons of the Huachuca Mountains before breaking out into parched ranch lands and populated areas over the weekend.
At least 62 homes and a number of businesses have been gutted, and an estimated 11,000 people were forced to flee at the peak of the fire threat in an area southeast of the town of Sierra Vista, Arizona.
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