Boulder View wildfire at 3,200 acres; homes evacuated in Scottsdale

Homes were evacuated Thursday night as a large brush fire spread to 3,200 acres in north Scottsdale near the Boulder Heights community.

Winds and hot and dry conditions fed the Boulder View Fire , which was at 0% containment with about 180 personnel assigned, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. The fire, which is being investigated as human-caused, started Thursday afternoon.

Volunteers worked overnight to move livestock and pets out of the fire line to large animal shelters at Cave Creek Rodeo Grounds and elsewhere.

Evacuations of about 60 homes took place Thursday east of 136th Street to 144th, north of Dove Valley and west and south of the Tonto National Forest boundary, the department said. Aircraft were expected to work the fire on Friday morning, the department added.

Volunteers from the nonprofit Arizona Foothills 911 and residents with trailers were transporting and taking care of goats, chickens, pigs, and over a dozen horses at the rodeo grounds.

Sunny Parker, president and founder of Arizona Foothills 911, said she even has a couple of tortoises and a tarantula at her home from families who had to evacuate. Veterinarians are also on call to help the animals, she said.

She said the nonprofit is ready to house over 200 horses on the rodeo grounds if necessary.

The emergency animal shelter went up overnight, said volunteer Paul Deif.

"With a horse, it needs space and care," he said. "When the wind picks up this afternoon, it's better to be ready than not."

The Red Cross also opened an evacuation center at Cactus Shadows High School in Scottsdale. Patrick Simmons, an Arizona and New Mexico regional leader for the group, said Friday that about 20 people who evacuated came to the shelter for resources.

Simmons said the high school's currently empty gym was ready to have rows of cots for evacuated residents to use, and volunteers would be present until authorities deemed the emergency over.

"People have been here since 3 a.m.," he said.

Burning operations tied the fire off from Bartlett Dam Road to Power Line Road, according to the department, while multiple hand crews worked in the Vista Verde community to try to stop the fire's spread in that direction.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Boulder View wildfire at 3,200 acres; homes evacuated in Scottsdale