Show Low, Ariz. ? Fanned by blowtorch winds, two explosive wildfires took double-barreled aim at Arizona mountain towns Friday as firefighters desperately cleared brush and doused homes with flame-retardant foam.

The frantic work was being done in Clay Springs and Pinedale, where the 128,000-acre Rodeo fire had already destroyed at least a dozen homes. Officials feared the blaze would merge with a fast-moving, 15,000-acre fire farther west, creating an even bigger challenge for already-overwhelmed firefighters.

A house in Pinedale, Ariz., is consumed by the Rodeo fire. Authorities announced Friday that the mammoth fire racing through eastern Arizona had grown to 120,000 acres, destroyed at least 12 homes and remained an immediate threat to two other towns.

Temperatures rose into the high 80s, and wind gusts neared 45 mph with low humidity.

Officials said the mix of weather and bone-dry trees was a recipe for an inferno.

“The forest is burning like you’re pouring gasoline on it, and the wind is like taking a blowtorch to it,” fire spokesman Jim Paxon said in Show Low, 10 miles east of the threatened towns. “This fire’s going to rear its ugly head again and grow.”

Some 8,000 people have been evacuated since Wednesday from Pinedale, Clay Springs, Linden and a community farther west. An additional 11,000 people in and around Show Low were told to be ready to evacuate.

The National Interagency Fire Center said 1.99 million across the country acres had burned so far this year double the 10-year average.