According to The Associated Press, Thursday night’s cooler weather contributed to helping tackle the blaze which swept through the country’s largest contiguous Ponderosa pine forest and threatened thousands of homes.

Around 600 personnel are involved in fighting the fire and a perimeter has been set up around it to protect Flagstaff. Arizona State Governor Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency in Coconino County following a survey of the wildfire and briefing from emergency officials. An evacuation notice was published on July 22, 2019.

In a statement, he said: “Public safety is our top priority, and this declaration will ensure emergency officials have the resources they need to continue protecting people, pets and property.

“I am grateful to the first responders we met today who are battling the Museum Fire,” he continues. “We are praying for the safety of the firefighters on the front lines and the residents affected by the fire.”

According to InciWeb, fire professionals will be presenting specific fire-related information to the public and will stream live on the Museum Fire Information Facebook page.

Also in its latest bulletin on Museum Fire, InciWeb reports that road access has been improved for Mount Elden Lookout Road and that helicopters have been dropping retardant to continue cooling hot spots. There are large amounts of heavy timber near the north area of the fire that is actively burning, says the bulletin, as well as log decks that are putting off large amounts of smoke.

According to AP, while seasonal rains have helped this week and allowed residents of “roughly two dozen homes to return on Wednesday,” there is also a raised risk of flooding, however, there is yet to be a warning for Arizona issued by the National Weather Service at the time of publishing.

Speaking to AP, Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans said that while the burning mountain might look disturbing, hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and others should not be deterred from visiting Flagstaff. She says: “This particular area is going to be scarred but there is something particularly beautiful about a scar that’s healed. That area is going to be different but beautiful.”

A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team is scheduled to begin work in the fire area from today, InciWeb confirms. “Officials from the Coconino National Forest will determine the need for emergency treatments to minimize threats to life or property resulting from the effects of the fire and to stabilize and prevent any degradation to natural and cultural resources,” says its bulletin.

An investigation into how the fire broke out is still underway. The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the number of acres burned in the U.S. by wildfires.

This article was updated to include an infographic.