For two weeks in June I covered Arizona’s worst wildfire, the Wallow Fire. Now the BBC reports on the final chapter Wallow Fire: Cousins charged over Arizona wildfire

Two cousins have been charged with negligently setting the largest wildfire in Arizona history.

The Wallow Fire, which consumed 804 sq miles (2,080sq km), started from a campfire lit by Caleb Malboeuf, 26, and David Malboeuf, 24, both of Arizona, according to charging documents.

The two experienced campers left the fire unattended and went for a hike in the Apache National Forest on 29 May.

The fire destroyed 32 houses and cost more than $79m (£48.2m) to fight.

It was not fully contained until 8 July.

The penalty for the charges is only 6 months in jail and/or a $5000 fine. These guys had their dogs with them and left the dogs tied up when they fled. One of the dogs died, but they were identified by the rabies tags on the dogs’ collars.

Note that they are not undocumented foreigners, but Arizona’s “own, fine citizens”.

Position: 23.6N 75.4W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [315°] near 12 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 120 mph [195 kph].
Wind Gusts: 150 mph [240 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 255 miles [410 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 952 mb ↓.

Currently about 150 miles [245 km] East-Southeast of Nassau and 790 miles [1270 km] South of Cape Hatteras, NC.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Bahamas.

Irene is turning more to the North, and is really pounding the Bahamas as it gets larger. The storm surge will wash over some of the low-lying islands.

Update: Things might ease up on the Bahamas a bit as the latest imagery shows that an eye-wall replacement cycle [EWRC] may have started. The intensity should drop some while this is occurring, but the storm will probably get even bigger and nastier when it’s over.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]