- Officials were investigating the cause of Wednesday's Cedar Hills Fire that led to the evacuation of 100 people.
- Fireworks, banned in the area, were suspected as the fire's cause.
- Cedar Hills Mayor Denise Andersen urges vigilance, calls on parents to be responsible that their children know the rules.
CEDAR HILLS, Utah County — Firefighters and city officials said Thursday they were investigating the circumstances behind a hillside fire that led to the evacuation of roughly 100 people.
The Cedar Hills Fire quickly burned approximately 14 acres on Wednesday evening, but fire teams with the help of helicopter and plane water and retardant drops were able to halt the blaze's progress.
"With the air resources, right, that we had last night — those were major assets," Utah Department of Natural Resources area manager Justin Roach told reporters during a midday briefing Thursday.
Roach said it preliminarily appeared fireworks were the cause in a place where fireworks are completely prohibited.
"I was very worried because that's been my biggest nightmare in this area with the city backing up against the national forest," Cedar Hills Mayor Denise Andersen said.
Andersen said it was still too early to determine what would come of the person or people who started the fire, but she acknowledged past cases where those responsible had been held liable for costs — a possibility under Utah code.
"Please be vigilant; please understand that there are restrictions in place," Andersen said. "I know it seems fun to do fireworks during this time of year, but it's not worth the consequences."
The mayor called on parents to be responsible and to make sure their children are up to speed on the rules.
"Make sure their kids aren't doing fireworks," she said. "Don't have open barbecues or anything that would start a fire — especially on this east side of the bench where it's a tinderbox."
Sarah Heiner, who lives northwest of where the fire started, captured a clear view of the fire shortly after it started and shared her videos with KSL-TV.
"It turned into something so bad, and it happened really quickly," Heiner said. "I could see the mountain was just blazing, and I would say it was 100 feet of just, like, tall fire."
She said she was grateful for firefighters' hard and speedy work to keep flames away from the homes on the street just below it.
"Just a huge shout-out to the firefighters, to the first-responders, the helicopter, the two airplanes — that was really amazing to see," Heiner said. "Living so close, I've never seen a fire on this mountain right here, and just grateful for the people who pulled together so quickly."
