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The #KearnyRiverFire ripped through the dry outer banks of the Gila River coming dangerously close to the town of Kearny, eventually destroying five structures which includes two home sand three outbuildings in the Stevens Trailer park. The fire started around 11:30 a.m. yesterday near the corrals, burned up 400 acres and forced 300 residents to leave their homes.
As the fire grew evacuations of a large portion of neighborhoods in Kearny were ordered, some of the evacuations were lifted. The following neighborhoods are still closed to residents: 500 block of Greenwich and Hartford, 100 block of Jamestown and the 200 block of Jamestown and Ivanhoe along with everything west of the tracks including the mobile home parks and the Stevens mobile home park outside of town. The incident team will be meeting this morning and will determine if more of the evacuations can be lifted. The Red Cross has opened a shelter at the Superior High School Gymnasium for those affected by the evacuations.
The fire is burning north along the Gila River. Crews are working to create a fire break using existing roads in the area. Officials are expecting to have some containment later today.
Currently the fire crews have grown from 110 fire fighters to 200. There are two bulldozers on hand with more on the way. There are two type -I helicopters on standby. The fire at this time is determined to be a Type Three incident management team; there are not current plans to upgrade the management team to a type two management team.
There is expected to be another official briefing at noon today. Copper Area News is in direct communication with the Town of Kearny Incident Commander and we will keep you updated via our Facebook page.
View a gallery of photos from the #KearnyRiverFire here.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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