PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) - The Latest on an Arizona brush fire near metro Phoenix (all times local):
8:05 p.m.
Authorities have reopened an Arizona highway closed due to a brush and grass fire.
The Arizona Department of Transportation said Saturday evening that traffic was again able to flow in both directions on State Route 74, the main access route to a popular recreational boating area near metro Phoenix.
The Bureau of Land Management said the fire was less than a quarter of a square mile (about half a square kilometer).
The agency said crews would secure a perimeter and return Sunday to check the area.
The highway had been closed west of the main access roads into Lake Pleasant Regional Park in Peoria.
4:05 p.m.
A brush and grass fire that has prompted the closure of a highway that’s the main access route to a popular recreational boating area on the northern outskirts of metro Phoenix continues to grow.
The federal Bureau of Land Management said on Twitter late Saturday afternoon that the fire is estimated at 120 acres (46 hectares) and that more firefighting resources are being summoned.
The Arizona Department of Transportation earlier said State Route 74 was closed in both directions west of the main access roads into Lake Pleasant Regional Park because of the fire.
The department said there’s no estimate when SR 74 will reopen and that drivers should take alternate routes, including Interstate 17, Loop 303 and U.S. 60 to detour around the closure near Christian Church Camp Road.
Another brush fire on the outskirts of the metro area has burned an estimated 1,200 acres (486 hectares) about 14 miles northwest of Surprise.
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3:10 p.m.
The highway that’s the main access route to a popular recreational area for boating on the northern outskirts of metro Phoenix was closed Saturday because of a small brush fire.
The Arizona Department of Transportation says State Route 74 was closed in both directions west of the main access roads into Lake Pleasant Regional Park in Peoria.
The federal Bureau of Land Management said on Twitter that firefighters have been deployed to the location of a 5-acre fire that’s south of the highway.
The Department of Transportation said the traffic should use alternate routes, including Interstate 17, Loop 303 and U.S. 60 to detour around the closure of SR 74 near Christian Church Camp Road.
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