The Sand Stone Fire Continues to Spread in Phoenix
PHOENIX — It was all hands on deck Monday as crews from both the ground and air tried to get some containment of the Sand Stone Fire.
“The main thing right now is we’re trying to keep ahead of this thing because the fire is going to go where the fire is going to go,” Stefan La-Sky said. “So we have to anticipate where we think that’s going to be.”
La-Sky is with the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4. They took over the fire Monday. He says the fire, likely caused by lightning last Thursday, is now at more than 15,000 acres and growing.
“So I know we have multiple helicopters at our disposal,” La-Sky said. “Three type 1’s which are the big helicopters and we have air tankers should we need them.”
According to La-Sky, the heat and rugged, dry terrain are helping the fire spread fast. Crews though have been working day and night to try and keep impacts minimal.
“The small little community of Sunflower,” he said. “We have a structure protection group right now assessing how many structures are there, which ones are the most threatened. So they have hose lines, big pumps just in case it gets in there. The other thing, is there are some very high voltage power lines north of the fire controlled by Arizona Public Services, so we’re trying to keep the fire out of there, there’s a good chance it might burn underneath.”
No power outages are expected at this time. Southbound lanes of SR87 are still closed indefinitely as of Monday evening. It’s also possible, depending on the movement of the fire, that northbound lanes could close as well.
Later Monday night, crews will also launch an Infra-Red flight to get a more accurate reading on just how big this fire actually is.
Watch 12News+ for free
You can now watch 12News content anytime, anywhere thanks to the 12News+ app!
The free 12News+ app from 12News lets users stream live events — including daily newscasts like “Today in AZ” and “12 News” and our daily lifestyle program, “Arizona Midday”—on Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
12News+ showcases live video throughout the day for breaking news, local news, weather and even an occasional moment of Zen showcasing breathtaking sights from across Arizona.
Users can also watch on-demand videos of top stories, local politics, I-Team investigations, Arizona-specific features and vintage videos from the 12News archives.
Roku: Add the channel from the Roku store or by searching for “12 News KPNX.”
Amazon Fire TV: Search for “12 News KPNX” to find the free 12News+ app to add to your account, or have the 12News+ app delivered directly to your Amazon Fire TV through Amazon.com or the Amazon app.
