When the Sawmill fire tore through Sonoita, displacing 400 people and leaving behind 47,000 acres of charred landscape, people from across Arizona and beyond responded to help out the community and the firefighters working to put out the fire.
Eight hundred firefighters from states as far away as Florida and New York were deployed to fight the fire, as it was designated a Type 1 incident, due to the size and complexity of the fire.
The firefighters set up their command center at the Sonoita Fairgrounds, turning the horse racing betting tables into personnel stations, setting up tents, catering, showers and conference rooms in all the buildings and throughout the grounds. “The population of eligible men in Sonoita just went from zero to 600,” said one visitor to the fairgrounds Thursday evening.
This space was shared by race horses training for the upcoming Sonoita Races May 6 and 7, and by animals and people evacuated to the fairgrounds, including a litter of beagle puppies, horses, cattle, goats and cats. The Red Cross set up an evacuation site for displaced people in Pioneer Hall before moving to the Sonoita Bible Church as more and more firefighters came to town.
As all this was going on, residents responded to help make life a little easier for the evacuees and for the men and women fighting the fire. Sonoita resident LynnRae Hale organized crews from the Canelo Cowboy Church to clean stalls. Many people donated hay for the animals, including High Noon Feed and Tack. Lowes in Sierra Vista donated and delivered cattle pens to house animals, a list was posted offering homes and stabling for anyone who needed it, and the Sonoita Inn opened its doors, offering showers to evacuees.
Costco donated a flatbed truckload of water, gatorade and supplies after being approached by Monica Rigas and the Lunow family, which Rigas passed out at the fairgrounds, at the Red Cross center and at the SEFD fire Station. She, with Paul and Jody Brosseit, also went around the fairgrounds picking up trash.
More than 100 donors dropped items and food off at the fire station, as well, including two van loads of supplies donated by listeners to two Tucson radio stations. “We set them out on tables in the bay of the station and invited the wildland crews to come help themselves,” volunteer Sue Archibald said. Donations came in from several organizations, schools, businesses, other fire stations and individuals.
Perhaps the most touching donation was a gift of 20 crates of fruit brought to the fire station by an organization founded by the wives of the firefighters who lost their lives in the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. “It just touched our hearts,” Archibald said. “We got very emotional. These are people who lost their loved ones, and they’re giving to others.”
Archibald and Suzanne Jenkins served meals all week at the fire station with food donated by the community, feeding between 20 and 50 people at each meal. Homemade soup, prepared by the Patagonia Senior Center, casseroles of all types, and even a roast turkey dinner were donated.
“It’s been a wonderful outpouring of support,” SEFD administrator Katie Goodwin said. “It’s been amazing,” Archibald said. “We always knew we lived in a wonderful community, but this confirms it.”