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HERRIMAN -- Herriman fire evacuees that have returned to their homes now want to see action and changes. The city, meanwhile, is studying its buffer zone with Camp Williams.
Linda Jensen walked out to her backyard Tuesday and couldn't believe her home was still standing. Just past her property line on Friendship Drive, charred brush extends for what seems like forever.
"It's amazing that our house even survived," Jensen told KSL Newsradio. "Our house was one of the ones that should have been burned."
She apologized for the mess in her home. It showed signs of a family that had been in a mad rush to save their things and their lives Sunday night. On top of a table, family photo albums were roughly stacked. A stray shoe was here, a sock there.
Jensen and her family were watching the fire in another neighborhood. When they returned, the fire was blazing halfway down the mountain toward their house.
"We had five minutes to grab things -- any kind of photo albums, or documents that we might have," Jensen said. "Five minutes -- what can you think of?"
Returning home Monday night, Jensen was grateful to firefighters for saving her house. She also questioned, though, what more could be done to protect homes like hers.
Two doors down, Andy Vigil has a similar view out his rear window and similar concerns.
"They need to re-evaluate the buffer zone, and the most obvious thing that sticks out is when they train," Vigil said. "Also, I'm really concerned about spring runoff. There should be some reseeding done, some trenches dug to divert water."
One thing the city appears to be addressing already is the buffer zone with Camp Williams.
"We've, obviously, always been concerned about having an adequate buffer zone," said Herriman City spokeswoman Nicole Martin. "We've had discussions with Camp Williams in that regard."
Martin confirmed Herriman is in the middle of a joint land-use study with Camp Williams and other cities surrounding it.
"The intent of that is to look at that space and find out what is advisable use of that for the safety of all parties," Martin said.
Martin says the city is also interested in following up with residents to make sure they are doing what they can to fireguard their homes and not encroach on the space behind them.
The city requires residents along the hillside when they move in to have a 30- to 50-foot defensible space, only 25 percent vegetation that is considered prime fire fuel, and a setback between homes. Additionally, the property must undergo a "fire flow" test to determine the water pressure and capacity in case of fire. The city is also working with developers to create space for emergency response vehicles.
"I think this is an ideal opportunity to take something positive from this disaster and to sit down with our residents, find a way that would be a meaningful way to communicate with them, and outline some areas that they can look around their own houses -- simple ideas that they could do that may improve their chances of saving their homes," Martin said.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
