Car explosion sparks Arizona wildfire, closes Highway 87 near Phoenix

A car explosion on State Route 87 near Fountain Hills ignited the Round Valley Fire on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, and quickly turned a stretch of highway northeast of Phoenix into a wildfire scene. The blaze burned about 30 acres near mile marker 214, and the Arizona Department of Transportation closed SR 87 in both directions while crews responded.

Video obtained by ABC15 Arizona showed a car fire and explosion in the area, and the highway later partially reopened before both directions were open again that evening. The fire unfolded near Sunflower and Fountain Hills, where dry roadside brush can give a vehicle fire a path to spread off the pavement and into open land in a matter of minutes.

The cause remained under investigation. Conner Hunt told Storyful that the explosion was caused by a television inside the car, but the Arizona Fire & Medical Authority had not confirmed that claim at the time. azcentral.com said the closure came after a vehicle exploded and started a brush fire north of Fountain Hills, matching the sequence captured in the video.

The Round Valley Fire came amid an active Arizona wildfire season that had already brought multiple fires across the state. On SR 87, the episode showed how a single roadside ignition can cascade immediately into a vehicle fire, a wildfire response and a highway shutdown, with traffic disruption and evacuation risk layered on top of each other along a corridor that serves drivers moving between the Phoenix area and the desert communities beyond it.