Wickenburg, Arizona, USA – A video filmed by X user Ihatenicknames captures dramatic aerial firefighting operations during the Jones Fire on May 11, 2026.

Recorded from a stopped vehicle on the highway shoulder, the footage shows a large red-and-white air tanker marked “40” flying low directly overhead through a sky filled with thick black smoke.

As the aircraft passes above the roadway, it releases a huge bright pink plume of fire retardant. The cloud stretches behind the tanker before drifting downward over the highway, nearby trucks, and the surrounding area.

Traffic on the multi-lane road remains completely halted in the video. Semi-trucks, white box trailers, and pickup trucks carrying “OVERSIZE LOAD” signs can be seen lined up below as the camera shakes and pans to follow the aircraft through the smoke.

Streetlights, green highway signs, palm trees, and bushes are visible throughout the scene.

The clip was posted with the caption: “Air support coming in right overhead. Very cool!” The video was recorded while the poster was stranded on US 93 after US 60 was fully shut down in both directions at milepost 111 because of the fast-moving wildfire.

The Jones Fire ignited around 11:30 a.m. near the Hassayampa River bottom southeast of Wickenburg and rapidly burned more than 100 acres of dry brush and riverbed vegetation.

The fire triggered immediate evacuations from US 93 to Zabel Mine Road on both sides of US 60, damaged or destroyed several RVs in a nearby park, cut power to more than 450 customers, and forced the temporary closure of US 60 between Wickenburg and Morristown.

Arizona Forestry and local crews used ground engines, dozers, hand crews, and multiple air tankers, including large air tankers and single-engine aircraft, to battle the blaze aggressively. Most lanes of US 60 reopened by the evening, although some restrictions remained overnight.

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