Large fire pollutes air in nearby neighborhood

As of Tuesday morning, fire officials confirmed the mulch fire reported Monday afternoon has been contained to 15-acres.

The fire was reported at 2375 West County 12th Street Monday afternoon, according to Rural Metro Fire Department.

Rural Metro is working with the Bureau of Land Management to completely contain and monitor the mulch fire.

Firefighters are drafting water from the canal and using it to spray the remaining burning areas.

The field of palm trees is owned by Blue Sky Recycling.

It has been more than 24-hrs of debris and smokes heavily consuming the air, which concerns residents who live nearby.

Rita Viera lives a few yards away from where the fire was raging, and has a heart condition. She said, “When the wind blows over here, it blows everything over here so that’s very dangerous for me.”

Another neighbor, Santiago Velasquez added, ” I was smelling [the smoke] last night because it goes through the air conditioning inside the house. ”

Viera says she was the first to report the fire to Rural Metro yesterday at around 2:30 pm and recalls the fire quickly spreading within an hour.

Residents were also extremely nervous about how close the flames were to their homes and property.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is monitoring the air quality, as the owner of the land is working on getting a farm pump so that more water can be used to fight the fire.

Residents should still expect smoke in the area over the next few days.