It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of call as a fire destroyed two upscale timeshares, leaving more than $1 million in estimated damages in its path.
According to Sedona Fire District Fire Marshal Gary Johnson, a call came in at 4:37 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 26, of a fire in progress at the Seven Canyons Sedona resort.
“Crews from Fire Station No. 1 responded and they could see the glow in the sky as they drove down Dry Creek Road,” he said.
They arrived on the scene within 10 minutes and found two adjoined casitas at the Villas at Seven Canyons engulfed in flames. Crews reported that it was a working fire, which allowed additional resources to be called to the scene. Engines from SFD stations 4, 5 and 6 arrived a short time later. While they were battling the blaze, crews from the Verde Valley Fire District came to Sedona to cover any calls within town as part of the SFD’s mutual aid agreement with neighboring fire agencies.
The casitas, which are used as long-term timeshares, were a combined 5,200 square feet. Both roofs had collapsed by the time crews arrived on the scene with severe exterior damage as well, Johnson said. No one was in either of the units during the fire. However, since nearby units are only around 20 feet away, residents in those were evacuated but allowed back in after the fire was put out.
In all it took firefighters three hours to extinguish the blaze and in the process they used an estimated 50,000 gallons of water. There was no reported fire damage to any other units but Johnson said some did sustain smoke damage.
Even though the fire was determined to be out, there were a handful of hot spots. So, a crew stayed on scene overnight until Saturday morning. At that time SFD investigators, as well as three from the Phoenix branch of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, began the task of determining a cause. Johnson said they believe they found the origin of the fire but the cause is still under investigation.
