More than six dozen people were displaced by a fire at the Spanish Trail Suites on Tucson's south side Monday night.Β
The three-alarm blaze took 2 hours and 44 minutes to get under control by a team of 62 firefighters and three agencies β Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments.Β
The Tucson Fire Department was called to the fire at 7:03 p.m. Upon arriving four minutes later, the northeast building in the 300 block of East Benson Highway was fully engulfed in flames.Β
Heavy smoke filled the air as four ladder trucks and seven engines battled the fire from outside as it spread to nearby abandoned structures, Tucson fire said. The fire was under control at 9:51 p.m.Β
Cornelius Eursey watches the action as firefighters from the Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments battle a three-alarm blaze at Spanish Trail Suites in the 300 block of East Benson Highway on June 15, 2020. Eursey was evacuated with all the other residents.
No injuries were reported and the Red Cross of Southern Arizona was working to assist at least 73 displaced residents.Β
The cause is under investigation and the damage estimate is unknown.Β
Thomas Chase, far right, says a police officer banged on his door to evacuate him and other residents from the Spanish Trail Suites,Β in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway, due to a three-alarm fire on June 15, 2020. Chase sits inside of the Sun Tran buses brought in to give residents a place to cool off as they wait to return to their homes.
Ken Shugart, left, and Joseph Acey were evacuated from their apartments at the Spanish Trail Suites in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway.
Officers from the South Tucson Police Department stand along South Fourth Avenue as firefighters battled a blaze at the Spanish Trail Suites in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.
Joseph Acey sits with his dog, Coffee, and waits as 62 firefighters from three agencies worked for nearly three hours to put out a fire at the Spanish Trail Suites in the 300 block of East Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.Β
Residents of the Spanish Trail Suites were evacuated from their apartments after a fire broke out in the 300 block of East Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.Β
