The Jones Fire ripped through the Arrowhead RV Park in Wickenburg on Tuesday, leaving about 25 people displaced and destroying about eight to 10 RVs and several cars as crews worked to hold the blaze at 84 acres and 10% contained. U.S. 60, which was shut in both directions at milepost 111, had been mostly reopened between Wickenburg and Morristown by the time of the report.
Francisco Camarena said his RV was completely burned down. “Done everything, lose everything,” he said, adding, “It’s hard because you need to start again.”
The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management said the fire was started by a human in the riverbed and was being pushed by heat and dry conditions. About 150 personnel were assigned to the fire, with wildland crews arriving from as far away as Tucson and Douglas. Tiffany Davila said the blaze found its way into dense salt cedar, a fuel bed that burned hot and helped drive the heavy black smoke seen over the area. “What really fueled this fire was the fuel bed, so it’s burning in salt cedar,” she said, adding that the plant is thick, oily and highly flammable.
The fire’s spread triggered evacuations on South Kerkes Street under a GO alert, part of Arizona’s Ready, Set, Go system that tells residents when to prepare, leave or return. Maricopa County Emergency Management later said all previous SET and GO areas were returned to SET status. The shift eased the immediate evacuation threat, but it did not erase the damage already done at the RV park or the uncertainty for families trying to figure out where they would sleep next.
That is why the shelter at Wickenburg High School, 1090 S. Vulture Mine Road, became a lifeline. A Red Cross volunteer said about 40 people stopped by the shelter on Monday, and three people and one dog stayed overnight. The group had food, water and a place to stay while fire crews tried to strengthen containment lines and keep the blaze from flaring again in the heat and wind.
For Camarena, the fire left little more than loss. “I can’t take anything from my house. I lost everything there, my clothes, everything,” he said. Even so, he said, “It’s OK. The important thing is, I’m OK.” For Wickenburg, the bigger question now is how quickly families can get back into the area and whether the line crews are building will hold as temperatures stay high and the ground remains dry.
