A large bush fire that began on Tuesday and led to the evacuation of over 1,000 residents of a rural community to the northeast of the Arizona capital Phoenix continues to burn but is contained, officials say.
Fire crews now believe that the massive blaze—which according to the latest estimate covers 1,960 acres near Scottsdale—was started by humans, raising questions about whether it was intentional. Some residents believe it was linked to a new-build development, according to local news reports.
The fire began on Tuesday evening near the McDowell Mountain Regional Park. Maricopa County officials told residents of the nearby settlement just before 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday to evacuate an area spanning nearly 1,850 acres.
Shortly after 1 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Scottsdale Fire Department said that a team of more than 200 firefighters was on the scene tackling what has been dubbed the Diamond Fire.
Around the same time, official estimates put the bushfire's size at 2,500 acres. At 6:38 p.m. (9:38 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, Arizona State Forestry said that the blaze had been 30 percent contained and occupied an area of 1,960 acres.
It added that the decrease in footprint from the prior estimate was "due to more accurate mapping," that the fire was staying within its footprint—despite warnings that a current heatwave made the spread of wildfires more likely—and that crews were "mopping up" the "hot edges."
Earlier that evening, at 9 p.m. ET, officials lifted the evacuation order but urged returning residents to "use caution" as fire crews continued to work to put out the blaze and to avoid the burn area.
However, they added that the Diamond Fire had been "determined to be human-caused" and was now under investigation by both Arizona State Forestry and Scottsdale Fire Department.
"Due to the ongoing and active investigation...we will not be releasing information on the ignition source at this time," Arizona State Forestry said on Twitter.
Ashley Holden, a reporter with local news channel ABC 15, tweeted later the same day that she had "heard concerns from multiple homeowners" in the Rio Verde Foothills to the east of the evacuation zone about "construction being the cause of the fire."
One person was said to have given the outlet footage, which Holden published online, appearing to show the nascence of the bush fire, which she said had been "near a home being newly constructed."
She added that when she approached Arizona State Forestry about the claims, they could not say more about the cause of the fire at present but that investigators were "collecting information."
Newsweek reached out to the Scottsdale Fire Department and Arizona State Forestry via email for comment on Thursday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned that strong winds and low humidity have created "critical fire weather conditions" over most of northern Arizona, with the threat expected to continue through the weekend.
Meteorologists have issued excessive heat warnings for swathes of the southwest caused by a heatwave that is expected to continue into next week. In Scottsdale, peak temperatures are expected to remain sustained above 100 degrees Fahrenheit through next Tuesday, topping out at 113 degrees on Sunday.
"Heat is the deadliest weather in Arizona," the NWS said, noting that between 2010 and 2020, there were 3,091 heat-related deaths in the state; the next most lethal weather phenomenon was flooding, which took 35 lives over the same period.
Officials have not reported any deaths or injuries as a result of the current wildfire.
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