Tempe crews extinguish fire burning near Loop 202 and Tempe Town Lake

Fire crews put out fire that was burning near Tempe Town Lake

The fire could be seen along the side of Loop 202 on the night of Jan. 14. FOX 10's Irene Snyder reports.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Fire crews responded to a fire near Tempe Town Lake on the night of Jan. 14 that managed to burn half an acre of land.

Flames could be seen right on the side of the Loop 202, Fire officials say at first, they first just sent a fire truck out to the scene, but when they saw how bad it was, they quickly brought in help from Guadalupe, Gilbert, and Phoenix.

Fire officials say they have a history of fires here by the water.

"There's a homeless population that lives in teh river bottom so we have a history," said Kevin Bailey, Deputy Chief of the Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department.

When crews initially saw the fire from the Loop 202, they had a hard time figuring out how to even access it.

"We knew we could access from this gate, so once we got through with the smaller vehicles, we were able to find it. Unfortunately, our large structure engine fires aren't able to access it, so we're using small brush trucks. They only have 250 gallons of water, so we're having to do shuttles with water. Use all the water, go back and fill it up," said Bailey.

Fire officials say they do not know the cause fo the fire at this time, and because almost everything in the area of the fire was destroyed, they are not sure they will ever be able to figure out exactly what caused it.