The 2017 Ellison Creek flooding[1] or mostly known as the 2017 Payson flash floods occurred on July 15, 2017, near Payson, Arizona, in the Water Wheel Falls Hiking Trail in the Tonto National Forest that killed 10 members of an extended family.

[2] On the day of July 15, 2017, an extended family of 14 were celebrating a birthday party at the Cold Springs Swimming Hole in the Water Wheel Falls Hiking Trail.

At around 3 p.m. (MST), many of the people, including children, were swimming in the waters of the canyon when all of a sudden they hear a loud prolonged sound.

[3][1][4] While the waters of the flood were damaging everything in its path, 9-1-1 dispatchers were called and helicopters were needed to be used to rescue the people struggling to stay alive.

A month earlier before the tragedy occurred, the Highline Fire, a raging wildfire that burned 7,000+ acres of land near Ellison Creek, which explains the mixture of ash and logs that were in the flood waters on the day of the disaster.