Airman on training mission accidentally starts Arizona wildfire
Feb 9, 2016, 9:47 AM
(Twitter Photo/@chrisvillegas29)
(Twitter Photo/@chrisvillegas29)
PHOENIX — An airman on a training mission accidentally sparked a wildfire in Arizona on Monday, officials said.
The Amigo Wash Fire was first reported about 1 p.m. near Arivaca, about 60 miles south of Tucson. It had grown to about 1,400 acres by Tuesday morning.
“It’s rolling hills,” fire information officer Kevin Bailie said. “The fire is burning, right now, in grass and brush. It’s not really hard to access, but the problem is there’s not really a lot of roads out there.”
The wildfire was accidentally started by an airman from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on a search-and-rescue training mission. Officials said the airman was trying to signal an aircraft when he sparked the blaze.
The fire was 25 percent contained as of Tuesday morning. Crews were making good progress and were holding fire lines.
No homes were in danger.
KTAR’s Jim Cross and Martha Maurer contributed to this report.
