Viewpoint Fire controlled after some homes burned
Hundreds of residents displaced; fire crews will keep watch
After six hours of quick growth, fire crews have stopped a fast-moving wildfire near Prescott Valley that destroyed at least two homes and displaced hundreds of residents Friday.
Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management officials said fire crews will continue to monitor the 2,500-acre Viewpoint Fire for any spot fires through the night and into today.
Officials said at least two homes were destroyed and as many as four others may have also been consumed in the blaze. Approximately 12 outbuildings have also been burned.
Gusty winds quickly pushed the rapidly growing brush fire north through dry grasses and brush shortly after 11 a.m. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but multiple residents told The Arizona Republic it started after a car crash on State Route 89A.
The fire quickly grew from 150 acres to more than 2,500 in a matter of hours. Residents along North Poquito Valley Road and the Antelope Meadows subdivision were evacuated Friday afternoon.
Jason Kaufman, a Prescott Valley Police Department spokesman, said the fire had displaced “a couple of hundred” people. Yavapai Community College was open to evacuated residents and the Coors Event Center at the Yavapai County Fairgrounds was accepting large animals.
It’s not known yet when residents will be able to return home.
Resident Joel Miller said he let his peacocks loose and unleashed his dogs as the thick, dark smoke filled the sky. He knew the animals would run if the flames got too close.
“There’s nothing you can do with peacocks. Just got to let them go,” Miller said. “This is the closest thing we’ve had.”
Miller drove to Phoenix this morning in hopes of starting Mother’s Day early. But when he got word of the fire, he turned around and came home.
Driving away from an evacuation zone, he stopped his pickup on a dirt road. He he stole glances from his rear view mirror at the smudge of black
smoke black just a few hundred yards away as he spoke.
He said he and neighbors did what they could to make sure everyone got out safely.
“Everyone’s got homeowner’s insurance, but you can’t replace everything,” he said.
Matt Peters said he could see multiple structures burning less than a mile away from his home, which sits a few miles north of Prescott Valley. He was already preparing to evacuate as the fire quickly ripped through the tall, dry prairie grasses.
Although wildfires are a fact of life in much of northern Arizona, this one had come closer than ever.
“When it’s moving fast, we don’t have a ton of time,” he said.
Strong winds and low relative hu- midity created “critical fire weather conditions” across much of northern Arizona on Friday, the National Weather Service Flagstaff said. The windy conditions were expected to last through today.
There have been 516 wildfires so far this year in Arizona, said Tiffany Davila, public affairs officer for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
At least 510 were human-caused, she said.
Arizona fire officials have been prepositioning crews across the state to more quickly get a jump on fires, Davila said.
Stage 2 fire restrictions were enacted last week because of the fireprone conditions after a notably dry winter. The restrictions forbid outdoor burning and campfires, even in developed campgrounds. It also restricts target shooting, smoking, fireworks, welding and chainsaw use on public lands.