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Wildfire burns 5K acres near Stanfield
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The 5,000-acre Vekol wildfire that started Thursday had search and rescue crews gearing up during the night to evacuate hundreds of residents west of Stanfield.
"One of the trigger points was the Maricopa Hills," said Arizona State Land Department spokesman Cliff Pearlberg. "But law enforcement decided it wasn’t necessary to evacuate yet."
A few residents of the town about 15 miles southwest of Maricopa left voluntarily, said Pinal County sheriff’s spokesman Mike Minter. Stanfield School offered to house evacuees if the fire spreads farther.
"Several search and rescue members are standing by in case it gets worse," Minter said.
The fire’s rate of speed was slowing down, Pearlberg said. But, it could still threaten structures and is expected to spread to 8,000 acres by the time firefighters have it under control. It’s unknown when that will be, Pearlberg said. It also had not been determined how the fire started.
Another fire also was burning nearby. The Green fire, about 20 miles south of Casa Grande, burned 700 acres by about 9 p.m. Thursday. It is not a threat to structures and no one was evacuated, Pearlberg said.
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