Fire forces evacuations in Arizona

The Bush Fire in the Tonto National Forest of Arizona has grown into the largest active wildfire in the United States this week. Officials evacuated hundreds of people from surrounding communities as the flames spread to more than 89,000 acres by Wednesday. The blaze began on Saturday, likely started by a vehicle fire, according to Mark Bernal, incident commander for the Southwest Incident Management Team.

Will COVID-19 affect evacuation efforts? Officials asked residents to “practice public health recommendations when relocating” and avoid sick people. Arizona hit a high in the number of daily new infections on Tuesday at 2,400. The state has recorded as of Wednesday nearly 41,000 confirmed cases, close to 1,250 deaths, and more than 6,500 recoveries. Texas and Florida also saw spikes in confirmed cases this week.

Dig deeper: Track the latest evacuation orders for the Bush Fire.