Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Amanda Butterfield reportingNo one knows how it started, but a field fire in Utah County proved very difficult to put out.
This afternoon you'll only see a little smoke, and acres of charred land.
Investigators have not figured out what started the fire, but they have some leads they're working on. It is possible the fire could have been a controlled burn that got out of control. There were also reports that people were seen along the shores of Utah Lake before the fire started.
The fire was spectacular, starting Tuesday evening around five. The wind fanned the flames along the shores of Utah Lake. Eventually the huge fire turned into two.
Batt. Chief Andy Byrnes, Orem Department of Public Safety: "We've just been allowing it to burn now into a northhead and southhead."
Fighting the blaze was a challenge for the Orem Fire Department as there was no easy way to get to the flames.
Batt. Chief Andy Byrnes, Orem Department of Public Safety: "The access all through private property."
Access to water was also a problem, as the only water they had to fight it with was what their trucks could carry.
But by two this morning, both fires were put out. And as the sun came up, the damage was revealed.
Batt. Chief Andy Byrnes, Orem Department of Public Safety: "The only thing that was lost was bird habitat some bull rush, so no value out there other then that."
But even though the flames are out, the job isn't finished yet.
Batt. Chief Andy Byrnes, Orem Department of Public Safety: "We'll have crews on it all day today just to make sure that there is no flare-ups and any mop-ups we can reach we'll try to do that."
In all, Battalion Chief Byrnes admits this fire was something to see.
Batt. Chief Andy Byrnes, Orem Department of Public Safety: "It looked big and bad."
Because no homes or buildings were damaged, this fire was not costly. The only cost: the time and effort it took the crews to fight it.
