The Smith Fire near Sonoita burned 1,790 acres by Wednesday evening as pre-monsoon storms moving through the area southeast of Tucson brought gusting winds, lightning and some rain.
Late Wednesday night, Cochise County Sheriff's deputies and Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers evacuated about a dozen homes in the community of Dragoon because of the Lizard Fire, said Carol Capas, a sheriff's spokeswoman.
A lightning bolt lances down, striking power lines near I-10, at the southern tip of the Rincon Mountains as storm cells crashed through the area, dropping rain and sparking fires, Wednesday, June 8, 2017.
Dragoon, a community of about 200, is about 17 miles east and northeast of Benson and authorities were making notifications to residents to evacuate because of grassland fires near residential areas, Capas said.
The blaze is in Jordan Canyon and Interstate 10 at Dragoon Road was shut down on to Arizona Highway 191, said Capas.
Capas did not have an estimate on the size of the Lizard Fire, but said that wind gusts were contributing to the fire's growth. Multiple agencies were battling the lightning-caused blaze that began shortly before 2:30 p.m.
Union Pacific Railroad was notified and it stopped its freight trains that pass through the area, said Capas.
The Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross will establish an evacuation shelter plan, and families were advised to get a "go bag" ready with important documents, medications, identification, money and gather their pets, said Capas.
Lightning strikes caused about six brush fires, primarily in Cochise County when thunder began between 1 and 2 p.m. Fire crews were battling the wildland fires burning mostly grasslands.
The Otra Fire in the Mule Mountains near Bisbee had burned more than 200 acres, and was threatening a state Department of Forestry and Fire Management tower, said Tiffany Davila, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Ground crews and air tankers were working the fire in rugged terrain, Davila said. She said the blaze is expected to be 50 percent contained by late Wednesday night.Â
Storm clouds roil over a yucca just off Sahuarita Rd. west of State Route 83, part of the action from a storm cell that rolled through the area, Wednesday, June 8, 2017.
Isolated rain from the storms coming from Mexico helped crews battle the largest blaze reported so far, near Sonoita.
The most significant blaze — the Smith Fire — started about 2:30 p.m. seven miles northeast of Sonoita in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.
Multiple ground crews and aircraft, including air tankers, were assigned to the blaze, officials said. About 80 personnel were working the fire.
Arizona 82 was closed for a a couple of hours east of Sonoita, but has since reopened in both directions.
The National Weather Service said the storms were moving to the northeast and were producing gusty winds of up to 45 mph. Rainfall, less than .10 of an inch, is associated with these storms.
June Lowery, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Land Management, said heavy rain fell on the Smith Fire Wednesday afternoon, helping the fire crews. However, the fire continued to grow. No evacuations were in place.
On Thursday, Tucson's high is predicted to be 103 degrees and mostly clear with a low of 72 degrees by the evening, according to the weather service.
