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BOUNTIFUL – Crews battling the Gun Range Fire have prepared to hold containment lines through the night while preparing for possible weather changes in Davis County.
Several agencies came together early Friday morning and quickly launched a defensive approach to protect families and their homes.
“They kind of slowly kept marching down the line, saying you need to leave, you need to leave, you need to leave,” said resident Martha Arndt.
Once daylight came, fire crews turned their focus to the mountain and extinguishing the flames.
“It was very, very windy when we first woke up,” Arndy said. “The wind was just whipping down the mountain, probably 30,40, 50 miles an hour.”
Arndt and her husband were up all night watching the flames grow dangerously close to their neighborhood. Some Centerville residents were evacuated as the fire approached their homes.
“We could just see the smoke was just going crazy and blowing down into the valley, we knew it was where there are a bunch of houses over there,” Arndt said. “I think everything from the ‘B’ to the ‘V’ just burned,” said Arndt.
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Bountiful evacuations to remain in place overnight after human-caused fire displaces hundreds
A thick haze filled the air as the sun rose above the mountains in Davis County Friday morning.In total, 24 structure engines and five helicopters were working to hold down containment lines in case wind speeds pick up.
“This morning we were using one of our v-lats, very large air tanker, and they’ve put several loads – they’ve kind of built a box around the fire,” said Kim Osborn, public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service.
Osborn said four hand crews were fighting the Gun Range Fire and three more crews were expected to join the fight Friday evening.
“We’ve had one of the hotshot crews on the north end, they built some containment line and have been able to burn off from there, to secure that north end,” Osborn said.
Officials said they believe the fire was human-caused, originating near the “B” on the mountain due to an abandoned campfire. They are looking for two individuals who were in a small SUV in the area before 1 a.m. Anyone with information is asked to contact Bountiful Police.
