Fire at the Fairgrounds burns part of grandstands

A man picking up dumpsters at the Graham County Fairgrounds called 911 on Tuesday to report a building on fire. He told investigators that he arrived at the fairgrounds at approximately 11:30 am to pick up a roll off dumpster when he saw the building on fire. He said that there wasn’t anybody around when he called 911.

Safford fire crews were dispatched to the scene as well as Graham County Electric Coop and Southwest Gas. Safford Fire Department requested help from Thatcher Fire Department, due to Safford fire crews working on the river fire, which had reignited. An ambulance crew also responded but nobody was injured.

A fairground employee told authorities that they had been burning weeds all morning to get ready for the upcoming county fair. The crew burned some weeds on the south side of the building and then left the area. The wind was blowing in a northwesterly direction, which apparently blew the flames toward the building and ignited it.

While the grandstands and other small buildings attached to it are built out of metal and steel, the storage building that burned on the southwest corner was a wood structure. It was a total loss. Inside the room were some filing cabinets, a couple of safes, an AC unit and other miscellaneous items. The grandstand and other small buildings only received smoke damage.

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