Freeman Fire, north of Tucson, has grown to more than 31,000 acres. How residents are helping

ORACLE — The Mountain Vista Junior High School campus in Oracle became the base camp for the roughly 250 responders fighting the Freeman Fire that has burned more than 31,000 acres.

As the fire has grown, more personnel were added to the response team.

Tents were scattered along the school's baseball field and the football field became a makeshift helipad. In the evening, the school’s cafeteria becomes filled with dozens of firefighters who sit down for dinner after 12 to 16 hours day out in the desert.

Tucked into the Black Mountains, the Freeman Fire is about 14.5 miles northwest of Oracle.

It grew to 31,727 acres Saturday and remains at a 0% containment, officials announced. The fire remained still active and weather conditions are a concern to responders that thunderstorms and wind flows continue to push the fire south.

The Freeman Fire started on July 11 and was caused by two lightning strikes creating two fires that merged into one. It grew from a modest 1,700 acres to more than 26,000 acres within the first 12 hours, said Eric Huddleston, the incident commander with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

One mile outside the fire sits the Willow Springs Ranch where 25 people live and about 10 homes stand.

The department issued the evacuation order because the fire conditions were extreme and pushing towards the ranch, Huddleston said. Based on the fire activity he saw the first night and brewing thunderstorms, the fire could push toward the ranch again.

Huddleston said that people living on the ranch went to families instead of setting up an evacuation shelter.

The Hayden Ranch community to the west of the fire remained in a “Set-be alert” status.

How a community is responding

For most Oracle residents, it was business as usual but one community was determined to come together and help.

Ten miles south of the Freeman Fire is the Saddlebrook Ranch retirement community of about 2,000 homes.

Ray Ritson and his wife were filled with panic when they saw the news about the fire. Ritson said his wife stood outside with the garage door open in case they got word they needed to leave.

Soon after the fire began to blaze, Ritson’s home lost power for about three hours. Others in the neighborhood did too, he said.

Pete Watson could see the glow of the fire and the dark black smoke from his home.

Soon after, a call out for donations was posted to social media groups, he said. Midday Saturday, Watson and Ritson had filled the bed of his blue pickup truck to the brim with cases of water, Gatorade, crackers, sunscreen, and other items.

It was going to take multiple trips to deliver all the donations to the junior high, Watson said

“Stuff like this pulls the community together,” Watson said.

Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek and can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.