Firefighters urge caution after February brush fire in Saratoga Springs

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A brush fire quickly grew to seven acres on Tuesday, leaving neighbors unsettled and prompting firefighters to warn about already dry conditions.

Andrea Olsen said she looked outside and started watching as the new fire west of the Jordan River was barely smoking.

“I could just see a small plume of smoke, and I called my husband to ask him, ‘what do you think I should do,’” she said during an interview with KSL. “Within about two minutes, the smoke had become increasingly thicker and wider. I called him back and said, ‘I’m really concerned — I think we might be evacuating.’ And within maybe just a couple more minutes, there was a wall of fire.”

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Olsen said she actually took the step to load her children’s baby pictures in her car.

“I could hear the crackling from my back porch,” Olsen said. “I could hear the fire crackling and roaring as it moved.”

Saratoga Springs firefighters said the flames spread across seven acres relatively rapidly, but they said it never got close enough to houses to threaten them or to prompt evacuations.

Chief Kenneth Johnson said while fire starts in brush can happen this time of year, this fire behavior was unusual.

“Seven acres over a very short 30-, 45-minute period is uncommon for us,” he said.

Conditions in the Saratoga Springs area were already some of the driest he’d seen, and he said that would continue to cause concerns unless the Wasatch Front receives meaningful moisture in the weeks to come.

“I think our big thing is just to let the public know we are at a higher risk right now,” Johnson said. “Even though it’s only February, we want to be really cautious when we’re out recreating or using machinery around dry grass and brush, and obviously that messaging will get stronger as we get closer to summer.”

The cause remained under investigation as of Tuesday evening, but Johnson said he suspected the fire was human-caused in some form.

Olsen said she also hoped for some significant storms after a fire that proved to be a little too close for comfort.

“We really hope we’re going to get something — a few somethings,” she said of potential storms. “That was the first time (with) anything that scary.”

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