AZ Wildfires: Telegraph, Mescal Fires Merge, Nearing 150K Acres

PHOENIX, AZ — A pair of wildfires burning around 60 miles east of Phoenix have merged, the National Forest Service said.

The Telegraph and Mescal fires, which are burning south of Superior, have burned 148,299 acres, with 59 percent containment as of Wednesday morning, according to the service's Incident Information System.

There are more than 1,000 firefighters working on the fire, which was human-caused, the service said.

Strong outflow winds from thunderstorms pushed the fires into each other overnight, with the fires growing by more than 25,000 acres since Tuesday morning, the service said.

Containment on the two fires dropped by nine percent since Tuesday morning, according to the service.

A total of 22 structures have been burned in the fires, which broke out during the first week of June, as the state of Arizona battles with ongoing drought conditions.

There's a 20 percent chance of rain in the wildfire area Wednesday night and on Friday, the National Weather Service said.

High temperatures will remain hot, however, ranging from 113 degrees today to 114 Friday, before cooling down to 110 by Sunday, according the service.