2 people injured, 21 displaced after massive fire in central Phoenix
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Two people are in the hospital, 21 residents are displaced, and two homes were destroyed after a massive fire broke out in central Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon.
Around 4:30 p.m., Phoenix firefighters were called to an alley fire near 16th and Oak streets, just north of McDowell Road. Crews arrived and found brush and debris that had spread to two houses near the alley. “This was a wind-driven fire,” said Capt. Joe Huggins with Phoenix Fire.
The Phoenix Fire Department said the wind then carried the embers, where other brush and structures caught on fire. Two adults were taken to the hospital with burn injuries and are in stable condition. Twenty-one people were displaced by the fire, and two homes and two sheds were destroyed. The fire was upgraded to a third alarm due to its size. Over 50 units and 100 firefighters responded to this blaze.
“It just went from house to house. And then when I was driving in, the palm trees were burning in the middle of the street. People’s houses were on fire, they were on top of their houses with no hoses and everything,” said Bailee Anderson who lives near where the fire happened.
As of 7 p.m., Phoenix Fire says the fire is under control, and crews are searching for hot spots. Arizona’s Family’s news chopper captured aerials of a house engulfed in flames, and smoke can be seen traveling in the air. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
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