Palm tree farm goes up in flames in Tolleson: 'It was a spectacle'

TOLLESON, Ariz. - An abandoned palm tree farm in Tolleson caught fire on Tuesday night.

Cell phone video by Chloe VanHoose shows several trees on fire as she passes by them while driving.

"As we’re passing, you can just see a ton of trees and fuel, and it’s getting bigger. A lot of wind," she said.

Right along Broadway Road and 83rd Avenue, the former palm tree farm ignited somehow on the evening of Aug. 6.

"The fact that we got there right when it was at its peak, before fire trucks got there, it was a spectacle," she said.

The following morning, on Aug. 7, the charred ground was still smoldering.

It was quite a sight for David Van Hofwegen, the former owner of the land.

"We had memories. Our kids were just little guys up to highschoolers. My wife and I, we had these little saplings in these big ole crates, and we went up and down, planted 500 of them by hand and then watered them, trimmed them, and now they’re gone," he said.

He sold the former Dutch View dairy farm to the Arizona Department of Transportation a year ago, but still lives in the house next door.

At first, crews believed a lightning strike could potentially be responsible, but the investigation is still open.

Radar shows the first lightning strike during the Aug. 6 monsoon storm was 40 minutes after the fire began.

"Impressive flames. You could see them a mile north. We have a nephew and niece up there and they sent us pictures. You could see them three miles down the road. Two miles to the west, you could see them. I would say 30 to 40 foot flames," Van Hofwegen said.

The land is expected to be bulldozed at some point in the future.