COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Texas Summit fire has burned 455 acres between Benson and Willcox along I-10. Authorities say that fire was caused by a vehicle crash.
Less than two years ago a lighting strike sparked the Walnut Fire in the same area. It spread quickly and forced the closure of I-10 near Dragoon.
"Kind of thought that it was your normal accident," said one cross-country trucker KGUN 9 spoke to in 2021. "Up until we were all sitting there for about 30 minutes. So I was like uh-oh, here we go."
The Arizona Department of Transportation closed I-10 from Willcox to Benson for several hours while crews battled the Walnut Fire. That meant a two-hour detour for some drivers.
With wind gusts over 30 miles per hour the fire eventually jumped I-10 and forced the evacuation of Dragoon. Fire crews guarded the Amerind Museum by purposefully burning some of the grass and brush between the fire and the museum.
Fortunately, the museum was never threatened.
Ranchers in the area moved out of the path of the fire along with their animals. Samantha Jepson of the J-6 Equestian Center told KGUN that day that moving a horse in a hurry is no easy task.
"You've got to convince a horse to get in a steel box so that it can travel somewhere. A lot of them can sense that we're kind of tense and worried about an evacuation," said Jepson. "So you suddenly run into a loading problem."
Fire crews managed to contain that fire within a couple of days. Those crews were also helped out by a rare rain shower in June of 2021. In all, the Walnut Fire burned nearly 11,000 acres near Texas Canyon.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Brooke Long is Senior Executive Producer at KGUN 9. Brooke graduated from Midwestern State University in 2014 where she studied journalism and television production. She came to Tucson by way of Wichita Falls, Texas where she worked at KFDX-TV. Share your story ideas and important issues with Brooke by emailing brooke.long@kgun9.com.