July 16, 2024: 34 structures burned
Fire officials said Tuesday that the blaze has mostly been contained. It burned 21 homes and 13 more structures, according to the tribe.
July 13, 2024: Arson suspected in Watch Fire
The Watch Fire has scorched more than a dozen homes and has affected 1,115 acres of land, so far, in eastern Arizona since it started late Wednesday around 11 p.m. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but arson has been suspected.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe has declared a state of emergency on Friday. They say it’s their worst fire in three decades, and have even requested for disaster assistance from state and federal governments.
Fire damage stretches between the towns of Peridot and San Carlos, where power lines have also been knocked out. As of Friday afternoon, the Watch Fire had destroyed 13 homes and left at least 75 community members unhoused. Hundreds more have been evacuated.
No injuries or fatalities have been reported.
“We have endured fires before, but the human scale of this one is particularly devastating,” San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler wrote in a Friday statement. “We have never experienced anything like this.”
Some families lost everything. Rambler added that elders lacked transportation while children ran without shoes to flee the scene. But the San Carlos Apache chairman also thanked first responders from neighboring counties, like Graham and Gila, and Indigenous communities for coming to their aid.
Fire personnel from the Tonto Apache Tribe, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Ak-Chin Indian Community and the town of Globe, are also helping out.
Gov. Katie Hobbs also disbursed $400,000 from the Joint Heat Relief Initiative to fund the emergency response for tribal and local communities managing the Watch Fire in Gila County.
“But I know we need more support,” Hobbs said. “I stand with the San Carlos Apache Tribe in asking the federal government for a major disaster declaration, allowing FEMA to deliver critical assistance to communities on the ground during this fire season.”
