By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – Crews clearing the Graham County Fairgrounds in anticipation of the upcoming county fair accidentally caught a building at its Grandstands on fire while burning weeds on Tuesday.
First responders were dispatched at about 11:35 a.m. and arrived at a fully engulfed Grandstands near the horse race track.
Safford Fire responded and requested assistance from Thatcher Fire due to some members already on site of a wildfire along the Gila River north of Little Hollywood. The fire crews managed to keep the blaze to a single structure.
According to a fairgrounds employee, the building was used for storage, and fairground crews were in the area burning weeds in preparation for the upcoming events.
Another fairgrounds employee described using a propane burner on weeds in front of the Grandstands and along the fence line by the horse race track. After burning the weeds, they left the area. Winds likely blew the burning weeds toward the building, starting it on fire, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
While the small storage building was a total loss, the Grandstands and other small buildings only received smoke damage.
