UPDATE (7-24-24): San Carlos Apache police have announced an arrest in connection to the Watch Fire.
22-year-old Keanu Dude was arrested on an arson charge related to the start of the fire that destroyed more than 20 homes.
ORIGINAL: A wildfire that sparked Thursday afternoon has burned more than a dozen structures and forced some residents in San Carlos to evacuate their homes.
Officials say the "Watch Fire" sparked in the 7 Mile District area and has been driven to downtown San Carlos by winds. The fire burned over 2,100 acres.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe has declared a state of emergency and requested disaster assistance.
Governor Katie Hobbs announced Friday she is making $400,000 available from the Joint Heat Relief Initiative to help tribe and local communities as they continue to fight and clean up from the fire.
The tribe says more than a dozen homes were destroyed, at least 75 people displaced, and about 400 people evacuated.
“We have endured fires before, but the human scale of this one is particularly devastating,” said San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler in a press release. “Unfortunately, multiple families lost homes. It was horrible all the way around. I have received reports of families leaving with nothing, elders having no transportation, kids running with no shoes. We have never experienced anything like this.”
According to the tribe, the Watch Fire is “the most serious structural fire on the Reservation in at least 30 years. No injuries or fatalities have been reported.”
Cathy Sisto says her longtime family home burned down. At the time, six children were in the home celebrating a birthday.
"The kids ran out with what they had on their backs," Sisto said. "It really hurts me. This is a place where everybody would meet. I've got a lot of memories here."
Kristiann Ferreira told ABC15 that she watered her lawn in case the winds changed. When the fire was encroaching across the road, she said a neighbor helped her go into her house and save her precious buckskin dress, used ceremoniously during coming-of-age ceremonies.
"She grabbed it and she took it and went back and got hers and took it to [her] godparents house just so it was safe," Ferreira said.
Community members and local organizations are stepping up and working to raise donations for those who have lost their homes in the fire.
Areas impacted by the evacuations are TC Alley, China Town, Peridot Heights, and Old/New Moonbase.
Evacuation shelters have been set up at the San Carlos High School and the Bingo Hall at Apache Gold Casino, according to local police.
The latest evacuation information can be found on the San Carlos Apache Tribe Emergency Response Commission's Facebook page.
Video from the scene Friday morning showed the aftermath of the fire, leaving multiple structures burned to the ground and still smoldering. Click the video in the player below to see more.
Fire officials say the fire is believed to be human-caused the investigation is ongoing.
San Carlos is located approximately 21 miles east of Globe.
The Freeman Fire also started Thursday near Oracle and has burned 28,000 acres.
This is a developing situation. Stick with ABC15 and abc15.com for the latest information.
