Brush fire sparks west of I-17 near Bumble Bee Rd.

BUMBLE BEE, AZ — Crews with the Daisy Mountain Fire and Rescue and other agencies have been battling a brush fire near Bumble Bee, Arizona since Friday afternoon.

As of Sunday morning the "Bumble Bee Fire" bured nearly 2,993 acres is currently 84% contained.

Residents in the areas of Bumblebee and Cleator had been sent a "Set" message in case of a possible evacuation due to the fire.

The fire sparked Friday morning west of Interstate 17 and Bumble Bee Road, near Sunset Point. It's currently one mile of Bumblebee and two to three miles of Cleater.

Fire officials say no structures are threatened and the fire is in a very remote area.

The cause of the fire has been determined to be human-caused and remains under investigation.

Dolores Garcia with the Bureau of Land Management, the agency coordinating the response to this weekend's fire, said prolonged dry conditions are creating a "grueling" situation for fire crews.

"Not only do we have just a very long, dry spell that we're experiencing but we're also working in the times of COVID where we're having to make some additional adjustments to how we work in our team environment."

According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, 82% of Arizona is classified in either "moderate" or "severe" drought.

Garcia said if those conditions continue, competition will increase for firefighting resources, like helicopters and tankers, as other western states enter the peak of their fire seasons.