Roy railroad corridor fire destroyed around 30 outbuildings in addition to 3 homes, fire chief says

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The fire earlier this week in Roy destroyed around 30 outbuildings in addition to three homes.
The fire occurred along a railroad corridor impacting fences and yards as well.
Roy Fire Chief Theron Williams said preliminary information on origin and cause could be released next week.

ROY — The fire earlier this week along a railroad corridor in Roy that destroyed three homes also destroyed around 30 outbuildings.

"The cost of the damage is extensive," Roy Fire Chief Theron Williams said Wednesday.

He didn't provide a dollar figure, but said on top of the three homes destroyed in the 4300 block of 2675 West, around 30 dog houses, sheds and other outbuildings in the backyards of homes along the impacted stretch were damaged or destroyed. Officials and neighbors in the area say fencing also sustained damage as well as yards in Monday's fire, torched and blackened by flames.

The impacted section in Roy follows the Union Pacific and Utah Transit Authority railway corridor from around 4800 South north to around the Roy FrontRunner station, north of where the three homes were destroyed, according to Williams.

Weber County property records show the three homes destroyed by fires are collectively valued at $1.18 million.

Another fire northeasterly from Roy along the railroad corridor in an undeveloped area east of 1900 West and north of Hinckley Drive torched around 15 acres of vegetation, though no buildings, according to Lucas Minton, wildland fire chief for Weber Fire District. That area sits in unincorporated Weber County, and the Weber Fire District is aiding in the investigation of the blaze there, which Williams said was reported minutes before the fires along the nearby corridor in Roy.

Though one of the fire officials involved in initial efforts on Monday to fight the blaze suspects sparks from a passing train could have caused the fires, given the length and location of the impacted section, Williams kept mum on the possible cause.

"We don't know exactly if it was a train or if it wasn't, and we just don't speculate," he said.

The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands is aiding in the investigation, and Williams expects the agency will release more details on the cause and origin of the fire as early as next week. Also involved in the investigation are representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, the Utah State Fire Marshal's Office, UTA, Union Pacific, the Roy Fire Department and the Weber Fire District.

Investigators ask residents along the impacted railroad corridor to examine home security footage and other video they may have taken in the area between 2 and 3 p.m. on Monday.

"Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the ATF at 801-524-7070 or by email at tyler.olsen@atf.gov. Even information that may seem insignificant could prove valuable to investigators," the Roy Fire Department said in a statement Wednesday.

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