NU Online News Service, June 23, 9:25 a.m.EST

Insurers are beginning tosee claims as evacuation orders are lifted and residents return totheir homes in Arizona while two major wildfires continue toconsume thousands of acres in the state.

A spokeswoman for the Arizona Insurance Council says evacuationshave been lifted for most of Northeastern Arizona where the Wallowfire has burned.

She says many homeowners in the area are reporting smoke damagein homes and debris from ash, and that such damage is expected tomake up the bulk of claims filed.

Fire officials report 32 residencies were completely destroyedin the wildfire that began on May 29. Five were damaged by fire,says the AIC spokeswoman.

A total of 72 structures are reported completely lost from thatblaze that has consumed close to 528,000 acres.

Fire officials now say that the blaze is 58 percentcontained.

Further south, near the border with Mexico, insurers and stateofficials are watching the Monument fire that has consumed morethan 27,200 acres and is now 45 percent contained.

The fire service reports 84 structures have been lost in thatblaze that began on June 12. News reports say 58 homes have beenlost in that fire. The National Interagency Coordination Centersays there are currently nine uncontained wildfires raging inArizona and New Mexico that have consumed 206 structures and morethan 850,000 acres.

The Monument fire, which reportedly began in the CoronadoNational Forest, has also created a firestorm of politicalcontroversy when Sen. John McCain blamed the fire on undocumentedaliens. A local sheriff made the assessment, according to alocal report.