Firefighters battle brush fire north of Kofa High

UPDATED - 8:45 A.M. WEDNESDAY - Kofa High School will continue classes today after a brush fire that sent students home early on Tuesday.

Firefighters and Public Works employees, both from the city and the county, worked through the night battling the pesky wind-aided fire, Mike Erfert, Yuma Fire Department public information officer, said around 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Because the area has deep mulch material, the firefighters will be watching for any flair ups, said Erfert.

Today Erfert says they are expecting low humidity and hopefully there will be no high winds that can cause flair ups.

Students were sent home early Tuesday - 12:30 p.m. - due to the brush fire that was contained as of late afternoon but continued to burn and produce thick, heavy smoke later in the day, according to Yuma Fire Department.

"The fire's not going anywhere but it's not out yet," Erfert said around 3 p.m. Tuesday as earth-moving machines were dispatched to help extinguish the blaze. "These heavy winds just keep the fire going."

The site of the fire had been used to dump mulch tree trimmings, and other plant debris, according to YFD. "This thick layer of combustible material added greatly to the difficulty of fighting the fire," Erfert reported in a news statement.

The fire in a vacant lot north of the school was first reported at 6:40 p.m. Monday night, when school security personnel saw two male juveniles running from the scene, according to YFD.

Officials with nearby Yuma Regional Medical Center said the smoke so far has blown away from the hospital, avoiding an impact on the health of patients, according to Machele Headington, community relations director for YRMC. Headington also confirmed that the hospital has not seen cases of people coming in for treatment related to the fire's smoke.

"Should the wind change we may have an issue with smoke," Headington said.

The fire was believed to have been extinguished at that time but firefighters were called back to the scene at 9:45 p.m. The fire was much larger then, according to the statement, and was being driven by high winds. No structures were threatened, but flare-ups were experienced throughout the night.

The fire's original cause remains under investigation by YFD and Yuma Police Department. It is not known if an additional fire had been set or if high winds reignited the original blaze.

Officials with Yuma Union High School District stressed that regular classes, plus advanced placement testing sessions, will continue as scheduled Wednesday. Parents of students with respiratory problems or other health concerns can call 502-5361 for condition reports. The phone line will be manned starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Anyone with information about the fire can call the Yuma Police Department at 373-4700 or call Fire Investigator Kayla Holiman at 373-4850.

School district officials stressed that regular classes, plus advanced placement testing sessions, will continue as scheduled Wednesday. Parents of students with respiratory problems or other health concerns can call 502-5361 for condition reports. The phone line will be manned starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Anyone with information about the fire can call the Yuma Police Department at 373-4700 or call Fire Investigator Kayla Holiman at 373-4850.