Just after midnight on Wednesday morning, June 13, 2023, the Prescott Regional Communications Center began receiving multiple calls reporting a structure fire in the 3000 block of Willow Creek Road, on the north side of the city.
Callers reported seeing a home on fire with large flames visible. Responding units reported being able to see the flames from miles away, prompting them to upgrade the assignment to a “working structure fire”. The original assignment included 3 fire engines, a ladder truck, a Battalion Chief, Prescott Police, and an AMR ambulance.
Upon arrival, units reported heavy fire and smoke conditions, multiple structures burning, a large structure that we not on fire, but was in danger of starting, as well as difficult access to the property.
The fire was designated as being a “defensive attack”, meaning that the structures that were already on fire were too involved to be attacked from the interior, so the strategy was to deploy large volumes of water, using high flow, truck mounted nozzles and elevated streams from the ladder trucks, to keep the fire from growing to where it would start anything on fire that wasn’t already involved. The fire then began to spread into the vegetation surrounding the structure, prompting the Incident Commander to upgrade the assignment to a 2nd Alarm, doubling the number of trucks and personnel already dispatched to the scene.
Personnel were able to extinguish the wildland fire, as well as keep the main fire from extending into the non-involved, 3000 square foot residence. The residence did receive damage from the intense heat of the original fire, but crews were able to keep it from getting inside the structure and also becoming a total loss.
6 Engine Companies, 2 Ladder Trucks, and 2 Battalion Chief from the Prescott Fire Department and Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority, as well multiple Law Enforcement personnel, Ambulance personnel, and additional support staff were needed to bring this fire under control. In all, more than 30 personnel were involved in the operation.
It took crews 90 minutes to control the fire, and units stayed on the scene for 5 hours to assure that all hot spots were addressed.
3 of the 4 structures were a total loss. All structures were reported to be unoccupied at the time of the fire. There were no injuries to civilians or emergency personnel reported at this fire.
The fire is currently under investigation. Multiple agencies are involved. Due to the size and complexity of the fire scene, it will take some time before investigators will be able to determine where the fire started, and how.
