With wind gusts reaching upwards of 30 miles per hour, a small fence fire morphed into a large blaze that left two homes unlivable and several yards blackened in a neighborhood directly west of ASU Main.
A strong westward wind blew smoke from the fire throughout the campus, leaving a pungent smell that permeated the campus' west side.
At approximately 10 a.m., the fire swept from one Tempe home near Mitchell and 10th streets to two neighboring homes.
"If the wind had not been blowing, we probably wouldn't have had anything more than a fence and shed fire," said Millard Pepper, Tempe senior fire inspector.
The fire, which took down one power line and blew up a gas tank, spread quickly leaving two Tempe homes, located at 919 S. Mitchell St. and 916 S. Roosevelt St., unlivable, Pepper said.
The home on Roosevelt Street, rented by Tempe residents Emily Irvin and Matt Troost, had a chunk on the northeast side of the roof missing, while the entire west end of the Mitchell Street home, belonging to Tony Johnson, was blackened and burned.
The fire entered Johnson's home, burning several rooms and the roof of the southwest neighboring home of Irvin and Troost. Only Irvin was home during the time of the fire, and she was able to escape unharmed.
Ash and debris spread by high wind gusts caused two separate alley fires, as well as various small blazes in neighboring yards, said neighbor Elizabeth Villanueva.
"I saw some smoke, and then I saw a puff of black smoke and I knew it was something serious," Villanueva said. "It was so black, I couldn't see anything and debris was flying everywhere. I was choking on the smoke."
Matt Koupal, a resident of a nearby home, said he saw the fire spread through Johnson's backyard, burning up various articles Johnson had collected, including an old Nissan 260 SX.
Koupal said that at one point the blaze was so large that it reached the tops of three different palm trees, approximately 30 feet high, in Johnson's backyard.
Twelve policemen and 14 fire engines responded to the call, Pepper said.
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
