The local news stations are reporting some major breaking news from Flagstaff, Arizona at this hour: a significant wildfire is burning a few miles southwest of downtown Flagstaff (and less than a mile away from a large subdevelopment), moving northeast — toward the city of 52,894 people.

Winds are blowing 20 to 30 mph out of the WSW, and are expected to continue at that clip for at least a couple more hours. The winds may die down a bit overnight, but in the long run, the winds will continue to be fairly strong, and out of the same direction, for at least 24 to 36 hours. Plus, we’re in a drought, and dew points are very low. The meteorologist on NBC 12 says, “All the ingredients are in place for a very large fire.”

I-40 westbound in the vicinity of the fire has been closed, as has Old Route 66. Lots of people have been evacuated from their homes. The plume of smoke can be seen easily from downtown.

UPDATE: Here’s a map showing roughly where the fire is.

UPDATE, 6:20 PM: The feds have just dispatched a C-130 from Utah to come fight the fire.

It’s called the “Woody Wildfire.” So far, it’s burned 100-200 acres. There are 1,200 people without power because a substation burned.

Flagstaff High School is being used as an Evacuation Center. People are being told they can (and should) bring their pets.

Lowell Observatory, where the planet Pluto was discovered, is directly in the line of fire and has been evacuated.

Also, a trailer park, Hidden Hollow Mobile Home, is about to get creamed.

UPDATE, 6:37 PM: The threatened development is Railroad Springs 66. Here’s a map showing how close it is to the fire.

UPDATE 6:45 PM: The firefighters are doing a great job. Against all odds, in spite of the extremely fire-friendly weather conditions, the fire hasn’t moved much over the last couple of hours.

You can watch live coverage here.

UPDATE, 7:00 PM: Northern Arizona University is about two miles due east of the fire. Here’s a north-facing webcam at NAU. Yeah, it’s looking the wrong way, but it still looks kinda smoky on the horizon. Here’s a large-sized version of the cam view; a new image appears every time you reload it, and you can actually see the smoke moving if you reload fast enough.

More webcams here.

FINAL UPDATE: See my new post for the latest.