{"id":788949,"date":"2026-05-11T14:54:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T14:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/788949\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T14:54:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T14:54:40","slug":"horseshoe-fire-near-cave-creek-at-45-containment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/788949\/","title":{"rendered":"Horseshoe Fire near Cave Creek at 45% containment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Horseshoe Fire northeast of metro Phoenix is now 45% contained as efforts continued on Saturday, authorities said.<\/p>\n<p>The brush fire near Horseshoe Lake has remained at 233 acres since Friday evening. The fire\u2019s growth overnight on Thursday had forced road closures and threatened key infrastructure in the Cave Creek Ranger District of Tonto National Forest.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TontoNationalForest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Horseshoe Fire<\/a> is burning on the west side of the Verde River and on both sides of Horseshoe Dam Road.<\/p>\n<p>Tonto National Forest issued an emergency closure order for Horseshoe Dam Road on Saturday due to the fire.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said the containment efforts on Saturday focused on patrolling and securing the area around the fire and dealing with hot spots that could threaten containment lines. Fire crews are also cutting down fire-damaged trees around the Mesquite Campground to provide safety to the public when the area reopens.<\/p>\n<p>When did the Horseshoe Fire begin, and how are firefighters trying to tame it?<\/p>\n<p>Crews first responded around 1:15 p.m. Thursday. They built a fireline on the north side to keep flames from reaching the lake and slowed the fire\u2019s spread west of Horseshoe Dam Road toward Willow Spring.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the day, several spot fires popped up east of the Verde River near KA Ranch, but helicopter water drops kept them from spreading. In all, helicopters dropped nearly 100,000 gallons of water on the fire Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>According to Tonto National Forest officials, crews are focused on protecting KA Ranch, Horseshoe Dam and nearby utility infrastructure. The natural habitat along the river is also at risk.<\/p>\n<p>The response has been aggressive on both the ground and in the air. Resources on scene include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Three Hotshot crews<\/li>\n<li>Multiple hand crews<\/li>\n<li>Engines and water tenders<\/li>\n<li>One Type 1, two Type 2, and one Type 3 helicopters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Maricopa County Sheriff\u2019s Office is helping with logistics, and Forest Road 205 has been closed to the public so crews can work safely.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n<p>No evacuations have been ordered, but officials are encouraging residents to sign up for the <a href=\"https:\/\/ein.az.gov\/ready-set-go?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExdHRUNlBNNWpCTEdNZFc1U3NydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7UqPpKotFnIjpuJacv47Uuguo9bhrMjo5PjgGk__6prrRQqJLSyfu0jhhJcA_aem_rPqQL1cBefmQMH2VDKYq5w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Maricopa County Emergency Notification System<\/a>. Evacuation readiness tips are available on the <a href=\"https:\/\/ein.az.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Arizona Emergency Information Network<\/a> website.<\/p>\n<p>Officials also warned drone pilots to stay away from the fire zone.<\/p>\n<p>The cause of the fire is still under investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The Horseshoe Fire is the latest wildfire to ignite as crews continue to gain ground on the <a href=\"https:\/\/ktar.com\/arizona-wildfire-news\/hazen-fire-containment-5-7\/5856046\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hazen Fire<\/a>, which is nearing full containment. The new wildfire adds to an <a href=\"https:\/\/ktar.com\/arizona-wildfire-news\/above-average-wildfire-risk\/5845552\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">active fire season<\/a> that state officials have warned could be especially challenging.<\/p>\n<p>This is an updated version of a story originally published on May 7, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/serenaeosully\" data-show-count=\"false\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Follow @serenaeosully<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                        <a href=\"https:\/\/ktar.com\/newsletters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/KTAREmail-830x100-1.jpg\" width=\"830\" height=\"100\" alt=\"newsletter sign up\" style=\"display:block;margin:0 auto;max-width:100%;height:auto;\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Horseshoe Fire northeast of metro Phoenix is now 45% contained as efforts continued on Saturday, authorities said.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":788950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-788949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-phoenix","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116556521895508925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}