Firefighters Kept Busy Over the Weekend

Tonya Papanikolas ReportingIt was a busy weekend for firefighters. From Draper to Farmington, fires popped up in fields, on mountains and at homes. At KSL, we covered six fires yesterday. Investigators are still looking into how some of them started; others we know were human-caused.

In the Federal-Arlington Heights neighborhood, a fire near the "U" on the mountain came dangerously close to homes. It almost hit the backyard of Lynn Nicholas Graham. Her husband grabbed a hose and sprayed down the yard. No one was hurt, but the blaze burned up to 30 acres.

Firefighters believe it started when a group of teens built an illegal campfire nearby. Nicholas Graham says the neighbors are fighting parties in the mountains. She sees beer cans there all the time.

Lynn Nicholas Graham, Fire Almost Hit Backyard: "That is party central all summer long for young people. It's a well-known place. We hear parties there, the neighbors hear parties there."

Meanwhile, firefighters had the Steed Canyon fire above Farmington 80-percent contained today. A group of partying teens lit off illegal fireworks in the canyon to start that blaze. It's reached around 100 acres.

A 14-year-old admitted to starting a fire from a bottle rocket in West Valley yesterday. That fire that came within 30 feet of some homes before crews got it under control.

We also had a condo fire in the Olympus Cove area, which caused 400-thousand dollars in damage to two homes.

And fire investigators are looking into what caused a hillside fire near the Point of the Mountain and a field fire in West Valley that spread to a junkyard.

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