SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A brushfire threatened dozens of homes in northern Scottsdale and prompted evacuations as about 250 firefighters aided by air tankers battled the blaze, fire officials said.
More than 1,000 people were under evacuation orders Tuesday night, authorities said.
The blaze, called the Diamond Fire, broke out at around 5:15 p.m. and within hours had burned 3.9 square miles (10 square kilometers) of land without any containment, fire officials said. The fire was near McDowell Mountain Regional Park.
Carlos Aguirre lives in a new community in north Scottsdale and said his wife called saying that their community was being evacuated.
“She got out and didn’t take the dog so we’re a little nervous,” he said.
Brendan Birdoes said he is building a home in the area that was being evacuated.
“Our friend told us this was happening," Birdoes said. “He was out here mountain biking and so we came out to see what was going on.”
No homes had burned and no injuries were reported. There was no immediate word on what sparked the fire.
Scottsdale Fire Capt. David Folio said at a news conference that the fire began in Scottsdale but has since moved into county and state lands to the east and the command post has been turned over to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
Officials have not been able to assess damage, forestry department spokesperson Tiffany Davila said.
“The fire was just too active,” she said. “It was producing erratic fire behavior.”
The fire has been fueled by grass and brush that dry out quickly once things start to warm up, Davila said.
“We’re about a month behind,” she said. “This is the activity that we usually see in May. But because we had all of that winter and spring moisture, we’re delayed for our start. So now is really the time we could start seeing an uptick in our fire activity.”
The fire comes as drifting smoke from wildfires across Canada is creating curtains of haze and raising air quality concerns this week throughout the Great Lakes region and in parts of the central and eastern United States.
