PHOENIX — Fire investigators are working to determine what caused a massive fire that destroyed more than a dozen homes under construction.
Firefighters were called to the scene near 59th Avenue and Baseline Road around 11:30 p.m. Sunday where multiple homes were engulfed in flames.
Phoenix Fire Department officials say more than 75 firefighters from seven Valley cities were called and eventually put out the blaze.
Flames destroyed up to 17 homes and severely damaged three others. The homes are part of a D.R. Horton build-to-rent community scheduled to be finished by year’s end. The homes were not available for lease yet.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“We’ve not ruled out anything. Everything is on the table,” said Captain Rob McDade, a spokesman for the Phoenix Fire Department.
He said the Phoenix Fire Investigations Task Force – made of fire investigators, police detectives, and an arson dog are on scene. They will collect evidence, including interviewing any witnesses and trying to find the fire’s origin.
“This is a long, protracted investigation,” he said.
See video of the aftermath in the player below:
Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller said there were multiple security cameras on the property, which will help with the investigation.
Because the area is a new housing development, Keller said the water grid isn’t fully set up. Some of the fire hydrants weren’t connected to water.
The dirt roads were also a problem for fire crews as they poured water on the flames.
“It was getting real muddy,” Keller said.
The developer, D.R. Horton, sent a statement to ABC15:
“The homes under construction near 59th Avenue and Baseline Road are part of a D.R. Horton build-to-rent community that was scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Fortunately, we are not aware of any injuries as a result of the fire last night. We are grateful to and thank all of the firefighters and first responders that acted quickly to extinguish the fire.”
This is the second major blaze impacting homes under construction that ABC15 has reported on within a week.
A fire ripped through an apartment complex site in Prescott Valley last week, causing an estimated $60 million in damage.
That incident is believed to be linked to a string of property damage incidents and other fires in the Prescott Valley area.
There have also been several Valley fires that have resulted in injuries since the end of last month — a baby and a woman were hurt in a fire in Glendale, and a man and child were hurt in a Phoenix apartment fire.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
