A fire destroyed a home on the 3000 block of Pike Road Tuesday evening, a street located near the end of Middle Verde Road.
The fire started sometime around 5 p.m. Smoke was visible for miles across the Verde Valley.
Several regional fire departments responded to the blaze, including the Camp Verde Fire District, the Montezuma-Rimrock Fire District, the Cottonwood Fire Department and the Verde Valley Fire District.
Neighbors gathered in the street to watch from outside an area blocked by deputies with the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office, while members of the town’s VIP program and the Red Cross provided assistance when needed.
Around the burning home, the smoke was so thick it obscured the sun.
No one was injured in the blaze. A resident, Katherine Ginzel, managed to escape with her dog, Chinle, before the house became completely engulfed.
Ginzel said that a member of the owner’s family had seen the fire and started screaming for Ginzel to get out.
Ginzel got out with the dog, but was still looking for two of her outdoor cats.
“I need to make sure I’m here when they come back,” Ginzel said.
One of the most devastating losses for Ginzel, beside having her home and possession destroyed, was the destruction of her collection of artwork dating back to the 1920s.
An artist herself, Ginzel said that the fire also claimed “a lifetime of work.”
Still, Ginzel said plenty of friends had come forward to offer their assistance, and that the Red Cross had assured her of a place to stay if necessary.
While no official cause for the fire had been released as of press time, Ginzel said she believes the fire started from a bad electrical ignition system on a new stove.
“You could smell it smouldering,” Ginzel said.
