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Evacuations ordered for Sawtooth Fire east of the Phoenix area

Map of the south side of the Sawtooth Fire at 12:47 a.m. MDT June 2, 2020.The incident management team for the Sawtooth Fire Tuesday morning announced the evacuation of part of Queen Valley. Firefighters expect to carry out a burnout operation nearby, also called back burn, in order to prevent the fire from spreading into the town.Below is part of the announcement issued at about 11:30 a.m.:Over the next few days, firefighters on the Sawtooth Fire will begin back burning operations as part of structure protection and community safety measures in and around the northeast portion of Queen Valley. To ensure safety, starting at noon today, residents along Silver King Road and Williams Road in Queen Valley will be placed in precautionary GO status as they are being asked to vacate their homes while these suppression operations take place. At this time, this precautionary GO notification only effects those residents along those two roads. Currently, all other residents in Queen Valley and nearby communities are not impacted by this request and need not vacate their residence in support of these firefighting tactics.For more information on the READY, SET, GO evacuation and preparedness program: https://ein.az.gov/ready-set-go.To get notified about emergency alerts, including evacuation information, contact your local county emergency management office.There is no estimated timeframe as to how long back burning operations will take within the northeast portion of Queen Valley. Residents are asked to be prepared to leave for a minimum of three days.The news release included few details or links about how to find out more about the evacuation, but we did some research:The Sawtooth Fire is east of the greater Phoenix area, 10 miles east of Apache Junction. At 12:47 a.m. Monday the south side of the fire was approximately 2 miles north of Queen Valley and 8 miles northwest of Superior.(To see all articles about the Sawtooth Fire on Wildfire Today, including the most recent, click here)If the incident management team releases an update on Tuesday they are expected to say it has burned over 20,000 acres. Map showing the perimeter of the Sawtooth Fire (in red) mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 12:47 a.m. MDT June 2.
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Author: Bill Gabbert
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