Lightning from a monsoon storm that swept across Tucson Thursday evening sparked a wildfire north of the city that quickly grew to more than 28,000 acres by midday Friday, authorities say.
The storm followed several days of dry and especially hot weather in the region. Forecasters said more typical and slightly cooler summer monsoon weather was expected this weekend, but Friday started with another excessive heat warning for metro Tucson.
The wildfire, dubbed the Freeman Fire, was the likely result of a lighting strike near the Oak Well Camp, said Tiffany Davila, of the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. A second wildfire, also likely started by lightning, broke out about a mile away and the two merged, Davila said.
As the wind shifted about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, wind pushed the fire in all directions, making the flames less manageable, she said. Crews prepared to evacuate homes in Willow Spring Ranch, when the wildfire was about two miles away. However, the wind shift pushed the flames away from homes and an evacuation was avoided, officials said.
On Friday, authorities said the wildfire threatened high voltage power lines and a communications tower.
A map of the fire midday Friday showed it had grown to 28,000 acres. There was no containment at the time.
Crews were conducting burnouts along the wildfire’s east flank to protect structures to the north, Davila said in a post on social media. Some 250 people along with air tankers and heavy equipment were brought in to fight the wildfire.
The wildfire was burning hot in extreme terrain and was and pushing thru lines of retardant, she said. Crews in the west side were using heavy equipment to establish a containment line at the base of Black Mountains.
Meanwhile, forecasters said Friday that dangerously hot temperatures along with the potential for thunderstorms will continue into the weekend.
Thursday’s thunderstorm dropped 1.4 inches of rain near the Rillito wash at North Dodge Boulevard and just over and 1 inch at Alamo Wash near East Glenn Street, according to data from Pima County.
Saturday was expected to see continued scattered thunder storms with gusty winds and blowing dust, followed by an increased chance of storms and flash flooding occurring on Sunday and Monday.
