7 states at extreme fire risk on Sunday

The risk of fire is high in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and UtahU.S. Forest Service chief: A Southern Arizona fire is the "number one priority"The chief says Arizona's Monument fire "can't get any worse"The cause of this fire, which is 27% contained, is under investigation, an official says

(CNN) -- Firefighters across the southwestern United States on Sunday could face some of the worst weather conditions of the season for battling blazes currently raging across the region.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for most of Arizona, all of New Mexico, much of north Texas and portions of Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Utah for Sunday. A red flag warning means weather conditions -- mainly high heat, low humidity and strong winds -- pose an extreme fire risk.

"The winds certainly will be very gusty and strong," said Ken Daniel, NWS meteorologist in Flagstaff, Arizona. "Any new fire starts would have the potential to have explosive growth."

The forecast calls for winds of 30 mph or more in some areas, with gusts of up to 50 mph, Daniel said.

There are currently dozens of active wildfires burning in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, according to InciWeb, an online interagency database that tracks fires, floods and other disasters.

Nationwide, wildfires have burned almost as many acres in the first half of 2011 than were recorded by the National Fire Interagency Center for all of 2010. The agency reports on its website that 3.1 million acres in the United States had been ignited by wildfires as of May 31, compared to 3.2 million burned acres cited in the organization's year-end report in November 2010.

One Arizona blaze that started May 29 has mushroomed into a massive wildfire that's scorched more than a half-million acres. A smaller but fast-moving blaze is raging in the southeastern corner of the state.

The latter of the two has emerged as "the number one priority" for firefighters nationwide, according to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

"The conditions that we're dealing with here are as bad as we can get," said Tom Tidwell, head of the U.S. Forest Service, of the combination of high temperatures, low humidity, ample "fuel" and strong winds. "It just can't get any worse."

Gordon Van Vleet, a spokesman for the Joint Information Center, said that no cause has been determined for the so-called Monument Fire, which has spread across the Huachuca Mountains and burned 20,956 acres as of Saturday afternoon. He said authorities likely won't state a cause until the blaze is more under control.

"We know where it started and when it started, but (the specific cause) is under investigation," Tidwell said. "When we do have that information, we will share it."

At a press conference, U.S. Sen. John McCain blamed illegal immigrants for starting unspecified fires in the area. The Arizona Republican, however, did not provide evidence to back up the accusation, which prompted rebukes from Latino civil rights leaders.

While a fire at the U.S. Army's Fort Huachuca is 100% contained, according to Van Vleet, the Monument fire was 27% contained as of Saturday afternoon -- an improvement over the 15% figure in the morning, but certainly dangerous given the inordinately dry and windy conditions.

"This has been the number one priority in the country for a couple of days," Tidwell said. "That means this will receive resources before anyone else."

The Monument Fire, just south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, has torched at least 40 homes.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has issued emergency declarations for the Monument Fire and another blaze, Horseshoe II, making Cochise County eligible for $100,000 toward response and recovery expenses.

Meanwhile, residents of the eastern Arizona community of Alpine were able to return home, according to fire spokesman John Helmich. The community has a population of about 300, but many more seasonal visitors were forced to leave earlier this month because of the historically large Wallow fire.

The Wallow fire, which burned 500,409 acres, was 38% contained Saturday.

Tidwell said earlier Saturday that he was "very optimistic" that damage from future wildfires could be minimized by thinning forests and clearing out biomass -- which did occur, to some extent, in parts of eastern Arizona. He noted that 3.2 million acres were "treated" nationwide last year.

Sen. John Kyl, R-Arizona, noted that the estimated $64.1 million price for the Wallow fire would more than double after the costs of mitigation efforts to prevent mudslides from the summer monsoons.

"Just think that what we could have done using those funds to treat those forests in advance," Kyl said.

But government budget strains have limited the amount of money going to such efforts. "The only way we are going to get these (forests) thinned is through greater participation of private enterprise," McCain said, adding that the government should try to facilitate such initiatives, including by allowing limited logging in national parks.

"There is simply not enough tax dollars to get the job done without them," McCain said of private companies.

CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

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Protests called for Morocco Sunday

Protests are planned for Morocco Sunday, despite the pledge of reforms from King Mohammed VISome protesters will gather Sunday; others oppose ideaMoroccans will vote for the constitution in a referendum slated for July 1King Mohammed's role would be that of "citizen king"Mohammed says the constitution will guarantee independence of the judiciary

Casablanca, Morocco (CNN) -- Some protesters not satisfied with the Moroccan king's proposed constitutional reforms have called for a peaceful demonstration Sunday.

"The national coordinators (of the movement) have called for a demonstration Sunday for a truly democratic constitution and a parliamentary monarchy," a member of the Rabat wing said Saturday. "The plan as proposed by the king yesterday, does not respond to our demands for a true separation of powers," he said Saturday.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared sweeping reforms that will boost the power of the prime minister and take away some of his own.

Morocco's revamped draft constitution will make officials more accountable, the parliament in Rabat more dynamic and will give the government greater powers, the 47-year-old king said in a nationally televised address.

A Casablanca-based spokeswoman for the reform movement said "tomorrow there shouldn't be nationwide demonstrations as all Moroccans are happy with the king's speech."

The movement has called for the creation of a parliamentary monarchy, an end to the influence of the king's inner circle and for a crackdown on corrupt officials. Spain and Britain are examples of a parliamentary monarchy.

In his 30-minute speech Friday, the sovereign described the draft constitution as "a bedrock of the special Moroccan democratic development model -- a new historical bond between the throne and the people," while describing himself as a "citizen king."

His actions followed a series of unprecedented protests not seen before in this North African modern Muslim country, where street protests are normally tolerated by the state, unlike in most other Arab countries.

If the draft is ratified in a referendum set for July 1, its most radical change would be empowering voters to select a prime minister, thereby ending the longstanding practice in which the king has selected his own man for the job. The prime minister has tended to take his lead from the sovereign on key matters of state.

If Moroccans back the draft, then the new prime minister would have new powers in decision-making and in day-to-day management -- relieving the king of a number of duties and aligning the style of management along the lines followed by some European Union countries.

In an example of power sharing, the draft constitution empowers the prime minister to dissolve the House of Representatives, and stresses that the king shall consult him before announcing the dissolution of parliament.

"It specifies the conditions to be observed in each case in order to ensure the separation of powers as well as balance and cooperation between the branches," the king said.

Friday's speech stems from a process that was first announced in March, after widespread civil unrest in the wake of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

The king instructed a hand-picked committee to consult with political parties, trade unions and civil society groups on constitutional changes with a brief to trim the monarch's political powers and make the judiciary independent. But not all civil society groups were consulted, which sparked a wave of demonstrations across the kingdom from groups who feared they would be left out of the new plan.

This move alone -- to grant real power to an elected prime minister -- could satisfy a number of demands from those members of society who have called for change.

Confirming the full authority of the head of government over cabinet members, the draft constitution gives the prime minister the power to propose and dismiss cabinet members.

But King Mohammed will remain a key power-broker in the security, military and religious fields, according to the draft. For example, the king would still serve as "the supreme commander of the armed forces" and would not relinquish the power to appoint ambassadors and diplomats under the new constitution. Furthermore, the king would retain the power to dissolve parliament after consultations with the new constitutional court, half of whose members he would have appointed.

CNN