Sept. 13, 2024: Fire grows to 12,000 acres
On Friday morning, the Siphon Fire had grown rapidly to 12,000 acres with no containment.
Susan Blake is with the Tonto National Forest. She says much of the fire is in rugged terrain.
"For the safety of firefighters we don’t want them to enter in that kind of terrain but we do have areas where engine crews are, where they’re conducting burnout operations to slow the fire."
Air tankers have been used to slow the fire’s growth.
SR88 is closed past Lost Dutchman State Park.
Sept. 12, 2024: Evacuations in place
Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat were under an evacuation order Thursday morning for the Siphon Fire, according to a U.S. Forest Service news release.
The blaze northeast of Apache Junction was reported Tuesday and has burned 2,350 acres. It was at zero percent containment on Thursday afternoon.
Motorists should avoid the Superstition wilderness area, State Route 88 and Forest Road 78.
Fire officials said rugged terrain was making the blaze harder to access. The cause of the fire was still under investigation.
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The risk of human-caused wildfire is high due to hot and dry conditions. Certain activities are now restricted within state trust lands in Gila, Maricopa and Pinal counties, as well as the Tonto National Forest. -
"Suppression is always going to be there," Chief Brian Fennessy told the Mountain West News Bureau. "But we're not going to suppress our way out of this situation." -
A new analysis of public federal workforce data shows about 5,800 fewer workers at public lands agencies in 2025 compared to the year before. -
Arizona Public Service has nearly 40 active AI smoke-detection cameras and plans to have 71 by summer's end, and the state’s fire agency has deployed seven of its own. -
Smoke from the fire near Buckeye has blown into the rest of the Valley since it started burning Saturday.
