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HERRIMAN -- A number of Herriman residents affected by the Camp Williams fire say they never received notification from emergency responders to evacuate the area until they had no time to grab anything and were forced to leave.
"Having to leave the house that fast, and having to leave everything we had put aside, we never had a chance to get anything out," said resident Stephen Shields.
It wasn't the first time Shields has had to evacuate from his Herriman home because of a fire from Camp Williams -- but it's certainly the fastest.
Because not all reverse 911 calls went through, emergency responders raced around neighborhoods, trying to notify residents in person.
"We just didn't figure we had any problems because before they always warned us way early to get prepared for it," he said. "This time we had no warning. They didn't come and warn us at all."
Shields watched the flames barrel down the hill above his house just as he heard a police officer on a loud speaker driving down the street, telling people to get out immediately.
He and his family didn't even have time to turn off the TV, let alone take any possessions or necessities like his apnea machines. They drove away as the fire was reaching their yard.
"We never got a phone call, and the sheriff never came to our door to tell us to be prepared to leave," he said.
This may be one reason why: One of the main ways police and fire relay critical information to the public quickly is by a reverse 911 call. But when the fire in Herriman got out of control, that call didn't get through to everyone.
Unified Police Lt. Don Hutson said, "We did the best that we could with what we had and we made every effort to try to contact people."
- Collect all important papers and documents, including banking, insurance and financial information as well as bills and checkbook.
- Think carefully about what items are easily replaceable by insurance and what items are not, like family heirlooms, keepsakes and pictures.
- If you don't have an up-to-date home inventory, walk through your home with a video or still camera. At the same time, make a list of what items you want to take during an evacuation. An inventory can help facilitate the claim process.
Shields may have not received a call for one of many reasons.
Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC), the emergency dispatcher, started sending out the reverse 911 call to Herriman residents. Only about 60 percent of the calls went through.
When the reverse 911 calls went out, some phone lines were busy, some had an outdated phone number and some hung up immediately because they thought it was a solicitation. The reverse 911 number shows up as long distance, which some residents block or ignore.
Because of this, Hutson says emergency responders raced around neighborhoods, trying to notify residents in person while strong winds pushed the fire closer to homes.
"Right up until the fire was in the backyards of many houses there were officers and firefighters that were attempting to make contact with people, literally risking their lives," Hutson said.
Officials from VECC are asking people who get a call from the system to listen to the full message and follow the instructions. Public Information Officer Geana Randall says people who get a call need to press certain keys at the end of the recording.
"If they didn't press one of those numbers, then the information that's captured by the software indicates to us that that's a hang up," Randall said.
Randall says they won't be able to tell if an actual person received the call or if it went to voice mail.
Also, some people don't have landlines anymore and rely on cell phones, which aren't in the VECC system unless you register it.
Officials are urging people to register their cell phones as well as voice over internet phone (VoIP) numbers with the reverse 911 system.
"We've actually asked our agencies that we deal with and the cities that we deal with to make the notifications to their citizens, whether that's in a utility bill or in their hometown newspaper," Randall said.
She says some cities like Cottonwood Heights are very effective at getting the word out, but others have a way to go.
If you fall into the group that has only cell phones or VoIP service, you can register your number with VECC and other emergency dispatchers. They use your number only for emergencies and won't give it out to anyone else.
To register your cell phone, CLICK HERE or visit the VECC website.
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Story compiled with contributions from Jennifer Stagg and Paul Nelson.
