The Red Cross announced Saturday that it has opened a temporary shelter after windy conditions pushed the San Juan fire past key containment lines
"The winds picked up and we did have a lot of movement on the fire," said Pamela Baltimore, a spokeswoman for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. "The fire crossed containment lines to the east and west."
The north end of the fire was holding and planes were dropping slurry on active sections of the blaze in an attempt to re-establish the fire lines on the east and west flanks, officials said. The fire remains zero percent contained, officials said.
Communities mostly populated with summer homes remained under mandatory evacuation orders because of the fire that was reported around noon Thursday. Its cause remains under investigation.
A total of 37 summer homes in the Red Cabin Ranch and Whiting homestead areas remained evacuated as a precaution, and authorities said up to 90 structures in three communities could be threatened by the fire. Those structures include homes, barns and sheds.
More than 200 residents and tourists left the areas by the time evacuations were ordered Thursday night, Apache County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Richard Guinn said.
Pre-evacuation notices also have been issued for the area of Greens Peak Hideaway, officials said.
A public meeting has been scheduled in Vernon later Saturday, officials said.
There have been no reported injuries. The fire is about 135 miles east of Phoenix, near the New Mexico line.
