Perilous Times
Utah wildfire spreads, prompts over 1,200 evacuations
HERRIMAN, Utah (AP) — A Utah blaze sparked at a machine gun firing
range prompted some 1,260 evacuations Sunday as flames spread across
hundreds of acres southwest and burned two homes, fire officials said.
With the fast-moving wildfire moving in on the town of Herriman, Mayor
Josh Mills signed a declaration of State of Emergency. All Salt Lake
County residents were asked not to use their cellphones to keep lines
open for emergency communications, and volunteers worked to evacuate
animals from the area, which has a high horse population.
"We can see the flames at the top of the hill," Faith Ching, owner of
Ching Animal Farm and Rescue, told the Deseret News just before the
fire reached some of the houses. "I don't want to take a chance. It's
really scary."
Captain Brad Taylor of the Unified County Authority confirmed with The
Associated Press that two Herriman-area homes had caught fire. The
blaze has burned more than 300 acres.
Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson, who helped with evacuations
and saw some homes catch fire, called the situation "chaos."
The fire began around noon Sunday at a firing range at Camp Williams, a
sprawling National Guard site about 30 miles outside Salt Lake City,
Taylor said.
Several hours later, crews with the Unified Fire Authority crews were
enlisted to help battle the blaze as it spread into Salt Lake County.
The first round of mandatory evacuations, which included 262 homes,
were ordered at 7 p.m., Taylor said. Later, another 1,000 homes were
ordered evacuated, he said.
"It's moving rapidly," he said late Sunday. "We're going to keep our
crews on this. We're going to keep our eyes obviously on the homes, and
call additional crews out."
Utah National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Hank McIntire told the Salt Lake
Tribune that dry brush had caught fire during an artillery training
session at Camp Williams, and soldiers did not have the manpower or
equipment to stop it from rapidly spreading.
"They knew immediately and they got on it right away," he told the
newspaper.