Authorities say a northern Arizona wildfire started by a weekend ATV crash is preventing them from reaching the scene, where the bodies of four people are believed to be.
5:30 p.m. update:
The bodies of the four men killed in a fiery crash of an ATV that went over a northern Arizona cliff have been recovered, according to authorities.
The names of the victims are being withheld until relatives can be notified, according to the Sheriff's Office.
All four men were from the Phoenix metro area, and, according to authorities, had been on a camping trip in the Payson area.
For reasons yet unknown, the men failed to navigate a turn with the ATV and plunged down 400 feet. Images provided by the Sheriff's Office show the charred remains of the vehicle at the base of the steep cliff face.
12 p.m. : At approximately 4:19 p.m. on Saturday, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office received a request from the Forest Service to assist with an ATV crash and consequent fire in the Blue Ridge area along Forest Service Road 300.
According to a press release, the fire was a result of the crash, which caused the vehicle to go off the 300 road and over the edge of the rim--falling possibly up to 400 feet off the cliff.
Earlier in the day four individuals who had been riding ATVs in the area had been reported overdue.
The fire hampered rescue efforts initially but fire suppression continued through Sunday as crews attempted to reach the four ATV riders.
As of early Monday morning rescue aircraft were in the area searching for the four individuals. Fatalities are not confirmed as of yet, but the crash is believed to be have been fatal.
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4 Believed Dead After ATV Plunges off Arizona Cliff
Authorities say a northern Arizona wildfire started by a weekend ATV crash is preventing them from reaching the scene, where the bodies of four people are believed to be.
September 17, 2018
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say a northern Arizona wildfire started by a weekend ATV crash is preventing them from reaching the scene, where the bodies of four people are believed to be.
Coconino County Sheriff's deputies say tracks indicate the ATV went off a Forest Service road and plunged 400 feet (122 meters) down a cliff near Blue Ridge Saturday.
Sheriff's office spokesman Jon Paxton said Monday that investigators don't know why the vehicle veered off the road.
The four people riding in the ATV were reported overdue Saturday afternoon.
Authorities are treating the scene as a recovery operation.
Paxton says the accident is likely what started the 10-acre (4-hectare) blaze.
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Four dead after ATV crash on Mogollon Rim
By Mike Leiby The Independent
September 18, 2018
A recovery team heads to the crash site of a group of ATV riders who went missing near the Mogollon Rim on Saturday. Four people were killed. Courtesy photo
MOGOLLON RIM —
Investigators with the Coconino County and Gila County Sheriff’s Offices are in the process of determining what caused the deaths of four people riding ATVs on the Mogollon Rim north of Payson the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 15. Most likely they were speeding on the ATV for the conditions of the trail and they failed to negotiate the curve. Then, they reached their final destination. Hopefully they died on their way down the cliff and they did not have to burn to death.
Jon Paxton with the CCSO said recovery operations were in process yesterday morning near Forest Service Road 300 at milepost 10 north of Payson on the Mogollon Rim to bring the bodies of four people and the wreckage of the ATVs they were on. They apparently drove over the edge of the Rim and fell about 400 feet.
Paxton said it appears that the ATV crash also started a wildfire called the September Fire that as of Sunday morning was at around 10 acres.
Forest Service Road 300 was closed from milepost 8 to milepost 11 Sunday because of the fire.
“While en route, deputies learned it was believed the fire started after an ATV crash that went off the 300 Road and over the edge of the Rim, falling possibly up to 400 feet down the cliff face. Earlier in the day four individuals who had been out riding ATVs and been reported overdue and were last seen in the area of the fire.”
Monday morning, Sept. 17, Paxton said they had not yet recovered or identified the bodies.
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SPEED KILLS, DRIVE SAFELY.
Most likely they were speeding on the ATV for the conditions of the trail and they failed to negotiate the curve.
Brother of deadly ATV crash victim calls on forest agencies to make roads safer
By: Nicole Garcia
Updated: Sep 18 2018 05:56PM MST
PHOENIX, AZ--
We're learning more about the men who died over the weekend after their ATV plunged 400 feet over the Mogollon Rim.
A Chandler High School student was killed in the crash, along with the driver who was a real estate agent from Glendale.
Coconino County Sheriff's investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what caused the crash. Officials have not released the names of all four victims, but family members confirm Rey Martinez was the driver of the ATV and 17-year-old Abraham Rodriguez Delgado was a passenger.
The teen's brother is now calling on U.S. Forest Service officials to implement safety measures on the dirt road, which hugs the edge of the Mogollon Rim.
A passerby on Rim Road captured video of smoke and flames in the area where the ATV went over the cliff. The person behind the camera had come across the scene shortly after the crash.
Gabriel Delgado says his brother, Abraham, was on that ATV. He was invited to go on a camping trip with his best friend's family.
"He loved the outdoors. He loved anything going fast, anything off-road. He was just a go-go kid."
The ATV driver, who relatives identified as Rey Martinez, was the stepfather of the teen that invited Abraham on the trip. A second ATV with other relatives also traveled Rim Road.
"The ATV that my brother was in got ahead of them.. several car lengths, I guess," said Gabriel. "We left that campsite on Sunday afternoon. We couldn't bring him back."
FOX 10 spoke with the driver's family and they declined to comment. Rey Martinez and his wife own a a realty business in Glendale. Surviving family members are struggling with grief. With one brother calling on forest agencies to make an effort to make Rim Road safer.
"Off-road vehicles are going up and down at whatever speed they like," said Gabriel. "Why isn't there a rail on that curve to avoid this kind of situation?"CCSO says deadly accidents on the back roads of the Mogollon Rim district rae very uncommon