Evacuations ordered in Mulberry Fire southeast of Tucson

Days after crews finally extinguished a nearly 50,000-acre brush fire southeast of Tucson, a new brush fire was reported in the area Saturday afternoon.

The fire was reported east of Arizona 83 near Old Sonoita Highway shortly after 2 p.m., Corona de Tucson Fire Department said in a tweet.

As of 8 p.m., the Mulberry Fire, eight miles southeast of Vail, had burned approximately 500 acres of grass and brush, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

The blaze was threatening structures, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department was assisting with evacuations, the department said.

Ground resources were being provided by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and fire departments from across Southern Arizona, with structure-protection crews working hard Saturday evening to usher the fire away from homes.

Six air tankers and several helicopters were also on hand, dropping fire retardant onto structures threatened by the fire.

The blaze was in a canyon southeast of the Charron Vineyards. Sheriff’s Department and fire personnel were helping to evacuate homes closest to the fire, the tweet said.

The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District said in a Facebook post that the fire was in Hilton Ranch, an area that was on pre-evacuation status during the Sawmill Fire, which was contained early last week.

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Sherry Whitfield, who lives north of Hilton Ranch, was out of town for business when the fire broke out Saturday.

“That’s my home being evacuated and my pregnant daughter there alone,” Whitfield wrote on Twitter, later adding that her daughter had been safely evacuated.

“Pray for us,” she wrote in another tweet.

Whitfield was under pre-evacuation notice for most of the Sawmill Fire, according to earlier tweets.

The Red Cross of Southern Arizona set up an evacuation shelter at the Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road, with entry off Houghton at the Brekke Gate.

Drivers were asked to avoid Arizona 83, as traffic congestion was creating safety concerns for firefighters and evacuees.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

The Sawmill Fire started on April 23 and burned 46,991 acres off Arizona 83 between Interstate 10 and Sonoita.