Authorities began evacuating the small New Mexico town of Luna Saturday afternoon as a precaution as winds continue to push a wildfire in northeastern Arizona.
About 200 people live in Luna. A shelter for evacuees was being set up Saturday afternoon at a high school in Reserve, N.M.
The U.S. Forest Service says the latest acreage numbers show the Wallow fire, one of several Southwestern fires, has burned 500,409 acres or 773 square miles, but is 38 percent contained.
However, firefighters are being hampered by winds with gusts of up to 50 mph being reported in the area of the fire.
The fire jumped lines along U.S. Highway 180, NBC News reported.
Earlier Saturday, evacuated residents of Alpine, Ariz., were allowed to return home. Greer residents remain evacuated.
Authorities say red flag warnings for high winds remain in effect through Sunday night.
Firefighters battled strong winds and hot weather to try to keep more homes, dry forests and stretches of high desert from being consumed by flames across the region.
With summer rains still weeks away, forecasters said crews would likely have little relief from the hot, windy weather that has dogged them for days. More high-wind warnings and fire weather watches were on tap for many areas through the weekend.
U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, who owns a home in Greer, was touring the fire area Saturday along with Sen. John McCain and Arizona congressmen Jeff Flake and Paul Gosar.
Containment rose to 38 percent Friday night, but more winds were predicted through the weekend with gusts of up to 60 mph (96.5 kph) possible.
Meanwhile, the remaining evacuations from a fire burning on both sides of the New Mexico-Colorado border were lifted Saturday morning for residents of Pine Valley Estates, Sugarite Canyon and Yankee Canyon just outside of Raton, New Mexico.
Containment on the nearly 28,000-acre (11,330-hectare) Track Fire jumped to 45 percent. Fire officials said existing fire lines were holding despite strong winds in the area.
Investigators from New Mexico State Forestry and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway said Saturday that fire apparently was started last Sunday by engine exhaust from an ATV.
In southern Arizona, a wildfire south of Sierra Vista remained 15 percent contained at 19,335 acres (7,825 hectares) or 30 square miles (78 square kilometers). Up to 50 homes already have been destroyed by the Monument fire south of Sierra Vista.
About 12,000 residents remain evacuated as firefighters continue slurry drops to keep the fire from pushing down a canyon and toward Sierra Vista.
Fire spokesman Greg Poncin called the situation "a little bit of a nail-biter" but said crews were hopeful that containment lines would hold.
Another wildfire in Cochise County is 70 percent contained after charring 206,322 acres (83,497 hectares), or 322 square miles (834 square kilometers).
All of the Arizona wildfires are believed to be human caused. Investigators believe a campfire was the most likely cause of the Wallow fire.
Authorities in southern New Mexico were also looking for "persons of interest" as they searched for the cause of a fire that burned several homes in the wooded community of Ruidoso.
As for the causes of the other blazes that have raced across parts of New Mexico this week, investigators are still trying to make determinations.
Also around the West, fires still were burning near Yakima, Washington state, and in southern Colorado. A wildfire near St. George, Utah, was fully contained after scorching more than 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of federal and stare rangelands.