Fire terrorizes but spares northeast Scottsdale

Jul. 5—It went the right way.

Though it terrified people on the far edges of northeast Scottsdale with an awe-inspiring charge from small brush fire to raging wildland blaze, the Diamond Fire otherwise behaved perfectly.

Its exponential growth late afternoon June 27 was in the only direction without homes. Then at night it "lay down," its once raging flames slumbering.

The next day, the mighty monster was like a post-Beowulf Grendel: still dangerous, but wounded and dying.

Yet Scottsdale and state fire officials remained cautious, keeping an evacuation in place until Wednesday night.

Thursday morning, the Arizona Forestry Department listed the Diamond Fire as 30% contained.

Though construction workers building new homes appeared to be the only activity near Ranch Gate Road and 130th Street — ground zero of the blaze — officials said the cause of the 2,500-acre fire as "unknown/under investigation."

No homes burned and no injuries were reported.

Around 4:30 p.m. June 27, a Scottsdale Police Department tweet showed firefighters trying to extinguish a small brush fire in the ritzy development near 128th Street and Ranch Gate Road.

Two hours later, the Diamond Fire defied Scottsdale firefighters on the ground and state planes dropping fire retardant from the air. It exploded, devouring hundreds of scrubby acres, threatening northeast Scottsdale and the Rio Verde Foothills and leading to an evacuation of 1,100 people.

As the sun set Tuesday, residents of North Scottsdale, Carefree and Cave Creek were alarmed by a column of wind-driven smoke spread over them. An evacuation center was set up at Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek.

At a news conference Tuesday night, Tiffany Davila, an Arizona Department of Forestry spokeswoman, predicted:

"When the temperature starts to cool down, this fire is going to lay down."

The next morning, her prediction proved true, as most of the fires had dimmed.

"Crews were very successful overnight, a hotshot crew along with hand crews were able to get around the entire fire," Davila said at a June 28 update.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Davila added.

Some who live in the northeast Scottsdale/Rio Verde Foothills areas suspect construction crews may have caused the fire — numerous homes are being built in the area.

Scottsdale Fire Capt. Dave Folio told reporters the city monitors construction.

"We do send letters out and we also do site inspections — and we've done a lot of site inspections out there," he said. "We just want to remind our construction crews that are working in the city as Scottsdale — and all over the Valley — we're in an urban interface.

"So take caution, have a hose line out if you're going to cut steel, have a (safe) area away from the brush."

Folio told the Progress, "Over a two-year period, I personally have had five small brush (fire) starts, all have been caused by cutting steel."

He also noted the emergency shelter at Cactus Shadows High School was not used.

"A handful of people came in, but nobody stayed the night," he said.

As the fire charged over Scottsdale's borders into county and state land, the Scottsdale Fire turned over command to the state firefighters.

According to the state, 300 firefighters from various departments were working on the fire.

Folio also took the opportunity to remind residents to create "defensible spaces" around their homes by clearing brush and weeds 15 to 30 feet around homes.

Twenty-four hours after the Diamond Fire ignited, the scene at the gated community of under-construction, high-end Storyrock homes — starting at $1.7 million — was calm and quiet, save for the hum of hydraulics.

A few blackened hills lined the south end of the development but the fire, whatever its cause, ran away from its home, heading east and then south, deep into the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

While it started in Scottsdale, a prevailing wind drove the Diamond Fire away from the city into unincorporated county and state lands.

Mercifully, it spared the parched Rio Verde Foothills community just north of the fire's epicenter, where about 600 homeowners have been forced to find a different source of water after Scottsdale on Jan. 1 turned off a standpipe that served them for years.

If nothing else, the Diamond Fire is another example of a wildland blaze's ability to turn a sleepy afternoon into chaos.

Just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, Scottsdale Police tweeted, "Officers and police aides are assisting @ScottsdaleFire with traffic control related to a brush fire near 128th Street and Ranch Gate Road. Some workers were evacuated from homes under construction in the area."

An hour later, police updated with an urgent tweet:

"EVACUATION ZONE: east of 136th Street; south of Rio Verde (Road); west of 152nd Street."

As the area was lit by the fires Tuesday night, neighbors frantically communicated via social media, searching for updates and offering assistance.

"Folks, we are on fire right now," Kim Walden posted, urging neighbors to get ready to evacuate.

The Arizona Forestry cautioned winds "could stir up activity," by Thursday morning, but northeast Scottsdale/Rio Verde Foothills residents were breathing sighs of relief.

As Kevin O'Neil posted, "Well, that was a little too close for comfort. But this community is amazing. A lot of people working together to help their neighbors.

"There was a very brief moment where I wasn't sure I was going to make it out. This came right to the edge of my property."