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A 384-Acre Fire Near Wittmann Is 30 Percent Contained

A 384-acre fire broke out about 20 miles west of Wittmann in Painted Wagon. The fire was reported Monday morning and crews have contained 30 percent of it so far.

With temperatures rising across the valley, fire activity has increased across the state.

There have been multiple fires so far, but this one was big enough to be noticed.

There have been no injuries so far, but two trailers and two vehicles were destroyed in the fire.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

The moisture received this winter could lead to more fires in Southern Arizona and desert-type areas around the state, according to Tiffany Davila at the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

“Now what that’s going to do is kind of overgrow those grasses. So the vegetation especially, in southern Arizona and in the more desert areas like Wittmann like we’re seeing in this fire, it’s just going to dry out quickly and burn very quickly,” said Davila.

The National Weather Service also released a fire weather watch warning for Wednesday afternoon for heavy winds and low relative humidity across southwestern and south central Arizona.

The forestry department added that these winds could add to the difficulty of containing the rest of the fire, even though the fire is moving slowly.

Mythili Gubbi was an intern at KJZZ in 2019.