Officials: Fire burning near Payson now 40 percent contained

PHOENIX — Firefighters made progress Friday night battling a fire northeast of Payson, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.

The Knoll Fire is now 40 percent contained, but was still roughly 60 acres in size as of Saturday morning.

The fire, which was burning approximately 13 miles northeast of Payson in the Meades Ranch area, was first reported to authorities around 9 a.m. Friday.

“It is human-caused — our initial indication is that it might be fireworks,” public affairs officer Carrie Templin told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “Fireworks are illegal on forest service lands in Arizona and New Mexico.”

There are approximately 140 firefighters on scene battling the fire.

The fire posed no threat to homes, but Forest Road 29 was closed for the safety of the firefighters and the public.

Fires aren’t common during this time of the year, but with little rain and snow in the area, the fire grew.

“It is unusual to have a fire this late in March, but it is burning actively and that probably means trees are dry and stressed and we, as the public, need to be very careful with any fire we have so we don’t have any additional starts.”

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