Brush fire in East Valley forces evacuations, road closures

PHOENIX — A brush fire in the East Valley forced evacuations and shut down roads on Thursday.

The fire, named the Lost Dutchman Fire, originated near Lost Dutchman Boulevard and Tomahawk Road at about 3 p.m., according to BLM Arizona.

State Route 88 at Lost Dutchman Boulevard was shut down shortly after as the fire continued to grow, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The highway was reopened at about 7 p.m., ADOT said.

PHD- New Report at Lost Dutchman and Tomahawk Rd, N of Apache Junction: Superstition FD on scene BLM and @azstateforestry resources responding. #AZFire Tentative Location: pic.twitter.com/i2NdY2AZ14

— BLM Arizona Fire (@BLMAZFire) May 7, 2020

Homes within a mile of the fire were being evacuated, the city of Apache Junction said at about 4:30 p.m.

Forward progress of the fire was stopped at about 5:30 p.m. after it had burned roughly 260 acres, the Arizona State Forestry said.

About 160 firefighters and aircraft were deployed to fight the fire.

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