Sand Stone Fire: The latest on the Arizona wildfire north of Fountain Hills

The community of Sunflower has moved from "set" to "ready" status for evacuation, indicating that the threat from the Sand Stone Fire is beginning to de-escalate. The wildfire has now burned more than 27,000 acres and remains at 60% contained.

Stephen La-Sky is with the Southwest Incident Management Team Four.

“We're looking at the weather because that's what could impact this fire. We have an excessive heat warning for throughout the weekend,” La-Sky said.

The fire continues to burn 14 miles northeast of Fountain Hills, while the southbound lanes of State Route 87 have reopened.

La-Sky emphasized the importance of driver safety, particularly on Highway 87, which recently reopened. With the weekend approaching and increased traffic expected, La-Sky urges drivers to be cautious around fire equipment and personnel working in the area.

The Sand Stone Fire has grown to more than 27,000 acres, but is now 27% contained — up from 20% Wednesday.

It’s burning 14 miles northeast of Fountain Hills, and southbound State Route 87 has opened back up.

Stefan La-Sky is with Southwest Incident Management Team four.

He says some of their resources that helped to suppress the fire early on have been shared with a different fire fight in Colorado. But they have more than 500 personnel working the blaze

“We still have helicopters here on deck so we can still conduct water operations, aeronautical operations with the water drops," La-Sky said.

La-Sky also says they had favorable weather conditions Wednesday, which helped them suppress the fire further. The community of Sunflower remains “set” for evacuation. No power lines are damaged, and no blackouts are expected.

The Sand Stone Fire has grown to more than 24,000 acres, but is now 20% contained – up from zero percent on Tuesday.

It’s burning 14 miles northeast of Fountain Hills, and the community of Sunflower remains “set” for evacuation.

No power lines are damaged, and no blackouts are expected.

Stefan La-Sky is with Southwest Incident Management Team four says their biggest concern right now is the weather forecast, from the heat drying things out, to storms maybe bringing lightning. The wind also poses a risk.

“It could push the fire in multiple directions, it could come from one direction very strong, it could produce really strong gusts and so crews are really on the outlook for that because that could change the dynamic of a fire in an instant," La-Sky said.

La-Sky says people should stay away from the area, including Bartlett Lake and State Route 87, which remains closed to southbound traffic.

The Sand Stone Fire is burning 14 miles northeast of Fountain Hills and growing fast. The fire has burned more than 23,000 acres so far with zero percent containment.

Southbound State Route 87 remains closed and the fire threatens the community of Sunflower.

Stefan La-Sky is with Southwest Incident Management Team four.

He says the community of Sunflower continues to be “set” for evacuation. And southbound State Route 87 remains closed.

“This thing is still moving along pretty good, they’re trying to keep it off the 87. So we’ve got crews burning all night long on that section of the fire, in case that fire does move. Right now it’s kind of moving northwesterly so it’s not really getting closer to Sunflower and they’re just trying to keep it away from that,” La-Sky said.

He also says APS power lines that supply Phoenix are threatened too.

“We did have a small finger of the fire that advanced across the powerlines at the extreme north, kind of northwest corner of the fire. Didn’t do any damage because it’s in grassland, so we’re not getting really high flame lengths. So we think we’re looking okay there right now at this point,” La-Sky said.

He says there’s been some interference with unauthorized drones and other aircraft. This can cause delays in fire mapping and in dropping large amounts of water from the sky. It can also put firefighter lives in danger if there’s a crash.

La-Sky advises people to stay away from the area and not drive in the area unless necessary. He said you cannot see the fire from the road.

“If they want to get a good view of the fire I’d recommend going up to Bartlett Lake that way you're out of harm’s way,” La Sky said.

The Sand Stone Fire is burning 14 miles northeast of Fountain Hills and growing fast.

As of Sunday night, the fire had burned 15,000 acres. But officials will remeasure Monday and they expect it to be much larger.

Stefan La-Sky with Southwest Incident Management Team Four said the fire is heading north toward APS power lines, a ranch and the community of Sunflower, which is being told to get set to evacuate.

As of Monday, La-Sky said they have enough personnel.

"We’re trying to get more resources, the problem is right now there are so many fires most of the incident management teams are out right now," La-Sky said.

La-Sky says the area got below normal monsoon rains, making for perfect fire fuel. And while the humidity is high, it’s not slowing the fire.

"It’s still being active at night. They say it doesn’t start laying down 'til about 3 o’clock in the morning. So it’s pretty much a 24-hour fire right now," La-Sky said.

The fire is zero percent contained and has already affected southbound State Route 87.