Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MILLCREEK — Fire crews were working Saturday to contain a wildfire near the top of Church Fork in Millcreek Canyon that police say was caused by a man trying to get away from officers.
About 11 p.m. Friday, officers with the Unified Police Department were called to a disturbance in Millcreek Canyon. When they arrived, they got involved in an altercation with a man, who broke free of the officers, removed his shirt, lit it on fire and threw it into the underbrush, said Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.
Police were able to take the man into custody after a short pursuit, but the fire quickly grew beyond their control, he said.
James Gill, 35, was arrested for investigation of second-degree felony arson and interfering with an arresting officer. Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said Gill also had a traffic-related arrest warrant, but no other criminal history in Utah.
Winder said Gill "seems to be rather unstable" and that the situation was "very unusual."
"Thank goodness it hasn't resulted in any injuries to anyone, but clearly, a gentleman suffering in a variety of ways. It could have resulted in a significant tragedy," Winder said. "I would characterize him as probably homeless or intermittently homeless and it appears he's been staying in the canyon for some time."
By Saturday afternoon, the Church Fork Fire had grown to about 5 acres on federal and Salt Lake County land. The entrance to Millcreek Canyon was closed to the public, and about 50 homes were under voluntary evacuations in the Mount Aire subdivision as a precaution, according to Rob Morley, a paramedic with Unified Fire Authority. No structures were damaged.
Morley said about 50 firefighters were "getting the upper hand" by digging line around the fire, which they expected to be contained sometime Saturday afternoon. The fire was in a steep area thick with scrub oak and was outside the reach of fire engines. But single-engine air tankers were dropping fire retardant, and a helicopter was on standby, he said.
Air support was delayed for about 30 minutes early Saturday afternoon because of a drone that was sighted near the fire. Kim Osborn, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, said drones can cause significant setbacks for firefighters, as well as safety risks with air resources, in critical moments on a fire.
"It's really dangerous. If you have a drone up in the air, we have helicopters flying low or a tanker coming low, they can't see that. It's a small object. It could kill someone. If it creates a collision in the air, then we have firefighters on the ground," Osborn said. "People need to understand, if they fly those drones, we can't fly our air resources, and it just (shuts) everything down. It's a very serious thing."
Morley said members of the public should continue to use caution when recreating outdoors through the coming months.
"We're going into fall, but we still get some hot temperatures in the afternoons. There's wildfire hazards out there," he said. "Just use caution when using ATVs and firearms. We're not out of the woods yet."
Contributing: Alex Cabrero, Sandra Yi
