SCOTTSDALE, AZ — “As I opened the door, directly between the two houses out past the street I just saw flames,” said Traci Handy.
When her electricity went out Tuesday she stepped outside and saw the Diamond Fire burning not far from her home.
“The flames were just coming up real high,” said Handy.
She described watching the fire crews battling the flames as "eerie."
“Especially when the planes started coming in, and it just felt surreal really,” she said.
She grabbed her phone and believes she was one of the first people to call 911.
Her family never had to evacuate, but Jennifer Mitchell and her two kids had just minutes to decide what to take with them Tuesday night.
“I think we had maybe three minutes to pack everything and go,” said Mitchell.
She said firefighters were pounding on their neighbors' doors to get out.
The family ended up staying at a hotel overnight.
“We were up all night,” said Mitchell. “I think every 30 minutes we would wake up and check our cameras just to make sure it was still standing.”
They were happy to see their house undamaged Wednesday when they returned home, just hours before the State Forestry Department officially announced the evacuations in the area were lifted.
“It’s always a matchbox out here and maybe a lot of people don't realize that,” said Rio Verde Foothills resident Jeremy Haskins.
Neighbors in the area are trying to do their best to prevent fires like this.
Multiple people told ABC15 their concerns about recent construction near the area where the fire began.
Haksins even came to a news conference Wednesday to ask officials about the cause himself.
“I was interested in (the) cause if the cause is construction,” said Haskins.
We took those questions to the Arizona Forestry Department.
Their department told ABC15 the Diamond Fire was "human-caused" but couldn't comment further on exactly what ignited the flames.
“Our investigators were out there all day at the point of origin and just essentially gathering the facts and the data, and that will be out together in a report,” said State Department of Forestry Public Information Officer, Tiffany Davila.
We're told the report could take days, weeks, or even longer.
ABC15 has reached out to numerous construction companies building in the area where the fire began.
