Wildfire near Cordes Lakes that forced evacuations downgraded as crews control it

A structure fire that spread into surrounding wildland forced evacuations in two Cordes Lakes neighborhoods on Thursday afternoon, though authorities later downgraded the alerts and allowed residents to return.

The Rolling Fire, which started near Rolling Ridge Drive, burned an estimated 3 acres and was impacting structures, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. The fire was spotting ahead of the main blaze, pushed by winds of more than 15 mph.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office initially issued “GO” evacuation orders for two neighborhoods (YCU-2333 and YCU-2336) just before 3:30 p.m., directing residents to leave immediately.

By 7 p.m., the sheriff’s office rolled both alerts back to “SET” status of the state’s emergency information system, meaning the immediate threat had eased but residents should be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. The “SET” status was lifted about two hours later.

An American Red Cross shelter and an animal disaster services shelter were set up at Mayer High School.

Tiffany Davila, a public affairs officer for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, said crews were able to halt the Rolling Fire’s advance but that additional resources were en route.

“Even though we stopped forward progress, we still have those resources coming to help with all of the mop-up that’s going to be required to get this fire 100% contained,” Davila said.

The state forestry department assumed command of the fire to support the Mayer Fire District, which initially responded.

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