Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Pima Fire responded just after 1 a.m. Easter morning to a fire near the Gila River.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – While most people were just waking to celebrate Easter morning, some members of the volunteer Pima Fire Department had already been on a wildfire near the Gila River for hours.
Pima Fire was dispatched just after 1 a.m. to a wildland fire north of the Pima wastewater facility in the area of about 300 East. The fire is burning wildland in between the wastewater pond and the Gila River. According to Pima Fire Chief Scott Howell, the fire is burning mostly weeds and invasive Salt Cedar and there are no assets that need protection in the area.
“There’s nothing between the farm road and the river,” Howell said. “And it’s stuff that doesn’t hurt anything to burn. We’re just trying to cool it down so it doesn’t get all the way to the bridge.”
As of about 7:45 a.m., firefighters were concentrating on controlling the edges of the fire along a farm road on the western flank roughly a quarter-mile east of the Pima Bridge and were attempting to just slow its progress as it moved north toward the Gila River. The area has seen recent fires, but they have been on the north side of the Gila River while this is currently burning on the south side.
There has been no listed cause of the fire. A haze of smoke from the fire could be seen along the horizon Sunday morning.
