GILA COUNTY, AZ — The Horton Fire northeast of Payson has been burning for more than two weeks, now burning more than 7,000 acres.
Neighbors in the small towns along the Tonto Creek have started to evacuate ahead of the heavy winds expected on Wednesday.
"We taped our windows up, we put wet towels along the doors, we tried everything, but we woke up in the middle of the night last night and our bedroom was literally filled with smoke," Gaylin Weber of Kohl's Ranch said. "It's very scary and uncomfortable and we just thought, okay that's it, we need to breathe, we need to sleep, we're out of here."
Jayson Coil, Operations Section Chief of the Horton Fire, shared an update on Tuesday that the fire is 19% contained.
"The winds that are forecasted to start later this evening and peak tomorrow (Wednesday) are part of one of three low-pressure systems that are going to impact us. If the wind modeling is right, those winds out of the northeast are going to come down and there's areas along Highway 260 where those winds are going to hit 50-60 mph."
The Forest Service has nearly 500 personnel working the fire and Coil stated, "We're being very deliberate about focusing on this area because this is the crux for the next couple of days... the Highway 260 corridor, with the bullseye over where the Scout Ranch is."
