PUNKIN CENTER, Ariz. (AP) - A wildfire that has charred 60,000 acres in central Arizona jumped a highway where firefighters were hoping to contain it Friday, forcing the evacuation of the 15 homes in the rural community of Sunflower.

Another 350 homes near another side of the fire, including the subdivisions of Sleepy Hollow, Sycamore Creek, Mazatzal and Walnut Springs, also remained evacuated. The fire was as close as a half-mile to that area, said Angela Goldman, a spokeswoman for the team fighting the fire.

No buildings had burned as of midday Friday.

Crews and engines were protecting structures in Sunflower, which is about 40 miles northeast of Phoenix and to the west of the fire. They were also burning away vegetation near the homes in both Sunflower and the Punkin Center area, said Laura Prevatte, another fire spokeswoman.

Winds gusting to 35 mph caused the fire to make a major run Thursday night, which moved the blaze closer to the communities, Prevatte said.

About 700 firefighters worked on the fire Friday, building firebreaks and clearing fuel from around buildings. Aircraft dropped water and retardant. The fire remained 40 percent contained.

In southwestern Utah, residents of the village of Motoqua returned to their homes Friday after the threat from a 3,500-acre wildfire subsided. The fire destroyed one home on a ranch, but 19 other structures near the town were not damaged, said David Boyd, a fire spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management. No injuries were reported.

A number of fires were burning in southern Utah, and officials said severe heat - the daily high temperature has been at least 105 degrees for a week - was beginning to take a toll on more than 700 firefighters. Two have been hospitalized for dehydration and heat exhaustion.

The National Interagency Fire Center said 32 large fires were active Friday in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. An estimated 3.9 million acres of land have burned so far this year.