20-Acre Brush Fire Causes 15-Mile Backup on I-17
UPDATED 6:13 p.m. — Crews responded to a brush fire near the I-17 Bumble Bee exit sometime around 3 p.m. Friday that has since forced closure of southbound lanes. The fire was about 8 miles north of Black Canyon City. By around 4:45 p.m. one southbound lane was moving through, but at about 6 p.m. there remained a 15-mile backup, ADOT said.
“Resources on scene are making progress,” the Arizona Bureau of Land Management tweeted at about 4:45 p.m. “Left lane of I-17 S bound has reopened. Use caution as you continue through the fire area as fire and emergency vehicles, and personnel are in the area working.”
“The fire was about 20 acres in size,” Paul Schickel, spokesperson for Daisy Mountain Fire & Medical, told North Phoenix News at about 5:25 p.m. “It has now been controlled and the crews are in the mop up stage. Daisy Mountain Fire & Medical responded with three fire engines, two water tankers, two brush trucks and a command vehicle, and were assisted by BLM crews. The cause of the fire is manmade, but the exact source is unknown.”
Schickel encouraged people to “always be aware of potential ignition sources that might start a fire like this. It could be a cigarette butt, dragging trailer chains, a separated tire or many other things.”