'It was devastating': San Carlos residents rally after Watch Fire destroys homes

SAN CARLOS RESERVATION — “Nobody ever expected this would happen.”

That’s what several residents on the San Carlos Reservation said July 12, the day after the Watch Fire burnt over 2,000 acres and destroyed at least 10 homes in their community, two hours east of Phoenix.

“It was devastating,” said William Belvado, a resident who volunteered to organize relief supplies at a local high school.

The fire began at about 11 p.m. Wednesday near downtown San Carlos and high winds caused the fire to spread rapidly, destroying homes, damaging power lines, leaving at least 75 people homeless and forcing the evacuation of more than 400 people. The spread of damage ranged from San Carlos to Peridot.

The San Carlos Apache Tribe declared a state of emergency and requested disaster assistance. Gov. Katie Hobbs authorized $400,000 from the Joint Heat Relief Initiative funding to support the community managing the Watch Fire for emergency response and recovery support resources. 

Officials were investigating a brush fire downtown when monsoon winds caused the fire to grow rapidly, said Kevin Cassadore, chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s Emergency Response Commission. Arson is suspected, according to a press release from the San Carlos Apache Forest Resources Program. Officials said the FBI is investigating the cause of the fire.

'I thank God, I thank the firefighters'

Karen Logan’s yard was stained pink with firefighting slurry, a brightly-colored flame retardant mixture dropped from airplanes to stop the spread of fire. The mixture painted everything – a nearby storm drain cover, cars in the yard, the side of the house, all bright pink. Logan didn’t know how she’d wash the stain out, but she was so happy to have her house, she said.

“I thank God, I thank the firefighters,” she said.

On Thursday, July 11, she watched from down the street with her daughter and her grandkids as the flames approached her house. If it was going to burn down, she wanted to see it. The flames came within feet of her home before firefighters were able to stop the blaze. Her house was safe.

“At the same time, I was sad because people lost their home too,” she said.

How the community is rebuilding

In the gyms at San Carlos High School, volunteers unloaded an ongoing stream of trucks and organized mountains of donated clothing, toiletries, water and pet supplies. People exchanged stories of family members who had lost their homes.

“We’re lifelong residents and we’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Belvado.

Belvado said his sister-in-law went to the parking lot at her job to see the fire, and heard popping sounds as the fire engulfed nearby homes. Some residents used hoses and made fire lines to fight the burning, he said. 

Belvado and his wife Mary spent almost every moment outside of work on Friday volunteering at the school. They’d typically spend a Friday night going out to eat, but that wouldn’t be right, Belvado said.

“This is one of those times you put everything aside and gather,” he said.

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Angellisa Hoffman, whose cousin’s family lost their house in the fire, also spent her afternoon at the high school unloading pallets of supplies. Hoffman runs a TikTok page with nearly 160,000 followers, and posted a video calling for volunteers. Volunteers came from all over Arizona and even as far as New Mexico, she said.

“I’m surprised,” she said. “Sharing something so small is showing the power of social media, helping and sharing.”

The Apache Gold Casino was one of several sites used as a shelter for people who had lost homes in the Watch Fire. Families passed through and firefighters with massive packs coming back from battling the blaze streamed into the lobby. Like the San Carlos High School gym, one end of the room was filled with water bottles, toys and food. On the other end, Vernelda Grant sat organizing a list of medications left behind by people fleeing their homes. On Thursday, Grant saved her elderly aunt from her home as the fire approached.

“My truck felt like it was going to melt,” she said. “I drove through an orange wall and then I came out to dark gray smoke. I couldn’t see, but I still turned because I know the road.” 

She said the flames spread so fast she felt like the fire was only steps behind them as they ran.

A few feet away Kateri Thompson stood with her kids. The family lost their house Thursday. Thompson was at work when her neighbors called to tell her they saw smoke. When she came home, her house was already in flames.

“We kind of just gathered around and basically we watched it burn,” she said. “We literally just watched it crumble,” she said. “We could not have grabbed anything…we just had what we were wearing.”

They stayed there until dark.

Her kids were born there, and so was her husband before them, she said. Ceremonial clothes, her son’s first baseball bat and generations of history were lost in the fire.

Thompson’s kids have helped her find some lightheartedness and humor in the situation, she said. While Thompson and her husband discuss their next steps, their kids joke about how they get to buy new clothes or about how they didn’t clean their rooms before the fire forced them out. 

They’ll stay at the hotel for at least two days before trying to find space in temporary housing or with family. 

It’s heartwarming to see the donations come in, Thompson said. 

“We kept getting donations coming down, going through it, moving it to the next family,” she said. “So many people were affected and all their things. You don’t realize how much you have until it's gone.”