Evacuation orders lifted for Boulder View Fire near Scottsdale; 80% contained (2024)

Published: Jun. 27, 2024 at 3:37 PM MST|Updated: 8 hours ago

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily)—Evacuation orders have been lifted for residents near the Boulder View Fire, which has burned thousands of acres northwest of Scottsdale.

On Sunday, the Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management lifted all “SET” statuses for those near the fire. This means that residents in the evacuation zone are returning to “READY” status as crews made progress on the fire.

The Boulder View Fire first sparked on Thursday afternoon and has burned 3,711 acres. On Monday night, fire officials reported the human-caused wildfire’s containment at 80%. The fire hasn’t grown in acreage for days.

On Friday, residents in the area from 136th Street to Box Bar Road and Rio Verde Road to Dove Valley were told to evacuate as the fire grew closer to their neighborhood. Those evacuation orders were lifted on Saturday afternoon.

“We were woken up by a police helicopter with spotlights in our area on the radio asking everybody to evacuate,” said Kristin Engelker.

“We have two little kids, so you know mostly just getting the super important things, documents things like that. Getting things ready that if we had to leave and not able to come back, we have everything ready. We don’t have any pets or livestock, but a lot of the people around here do have lots of animals, so you know lots of people are getting trailers and getting their horses ready to go,” said Maddison Baca, who lives near the wildfire.

“(Saturday) crews really just patrolled the perimeter, checking for any interior smokes, any remaining heat and then making sure the fire’s edge was secure,” said Tiffany Davila with the Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

The fire is burning near the Boulder Heights community, close to Lone Mountain Parkway and Cave Creek Road, located east of Desert Mountain Golf Club.

This marks the third fire in the last six weeks that has forced road closures to Bartlett Lake.

“We’ve been at this now for about 35 years, and no, I’ve never seen it like this before,” says Bartlett Lake Marina co-owner Bryan Church. “It has impacted us pretty badly actually because when you lose these, you got these closures it impacts the boat rentals that have been pre-scheduled with people for weeks, maybe months.”

In addition, Arizona Humane Society staff was deployed to help shelter evacuated pets. Medical staff and emergency animal medical technicians are on-site helping pet owners.

Large animal evacuation shelters are located at:

• Cave Creek Memorial Arena (37201 N 28th St Cave Creek)
• Reigning Grace Ranch (28614 N 172nd St Scottsdale)
• Cave Creek Outfitters (31313 N 144th St Scottsdale)
• AERO

“It’s very surreal. It definitely is a wake up call that you know we’re not just playing around here this is serious stuff. Just trying to stay out of everyone’s way and help where I can,” said Engelker.

The City of Scottsdale notified homeowners that the north part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, including all trails and access points north of Dynamite Boulevard, would be closed until further notice. All trailheads were reopened Monday morning.

Bartlett Lake Dam Road and Horseshoe Dam Road were reopened Monday morning.

Tiffany Davila, spokeswoman with the Department of Forestry and Fire Management, says around 60 homes were evacuated. The fire also threatened power lines in the area.

“It’s very uneasy knowing that anything could happen at any moment. The wind shifts and fire was moving in one direction last night and then it shifted in the middle of the night, so here we are,” said Engelker.

On the night it began, the southeast end of the fire grew significantly, prompting evacuations for part of the Vista Verde community.

“It’s definitely not comforting knowing that you got a fire in your backyard, but I have faith in the fire department. I think they’re doing their best. They’ll keep an eye out on us and they’ll get it taken care of hopefully, cross your fingers,” said Engelker.

No injuries have been reported.

Officials say the fire was caused by humans but no additional details have been released.

Additional resources responded to fight the fire on Friday, including more hand crews and engines. The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management and the Tonto National Forest wildfire teams are actively engaged in battling the fire.

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