Sand Stone Fire scorches over 27K acres in Tonto National Forest; SR 87 reopens
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - The southbound lanes of State Route 87 have reopened as crews have gained some containment of the Sand Stone Fire, which is burning in the Tonto National Forest.
The fire first sparked on July 25. It quickly grew from just over 3,200 acres to more than 15,000 acres.
As of Aug. 12, the fire has burned 27,390 acres and is 98% contained. It was reportedly sparked by lighting.
Nearly 300 personnel were assigned to fight the fire.
‘This still has a long way to go, unfortunately’
Fire officials don't expect the fire to slow down anytime soon, and expect it to keep growing quickly.
Residents, like Tammy Donnell, watch as the night skies fill with bright flames.
"This is crazy. It's almost surreal. It just started feeding itself. I was starting to see the flames and the smoke was billowing," she said on July 29.
Stefan La-Sky with Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4 says the light grass and heavy winds are fueling this fire. The priority is keeping it away from residents in Sunflower and west of SR 87.
"This still has a long way to go, unfortunately, because there are no holding features between here and pretty far north," La-Sky said. "We have some big high voltage power lines up here that we're concerned about."
At least 200 people are working on the fire, with four hot shot crews, some of them coming from California and New Mexico. Sharing out-of-state resources at this time of year is crucial.
"This time of year, it's burning everywhere," La-Sky said.
Donnell was close enough to the flames to hear the power of nature.
"It moved in and then fully consumed the west side of that mountain. It was just this loud roar," Donnell said.
First responders ask you to give them space to fight the fire.
"There's nothing to see here, folks. That's a cliché, but there really isn't. So just try to keep them out of the area. We have fire crews working in that area. So just for firefighter safety. They're already dealing with the fire and the heat, they don't need to deal with vehicle traffic," La-Sky said.