Washington Terrace fire torches 45 acres, forces home evacuations

WASHINGTON TERRACE, Weber County — A fire in an undeveloped area south of Washington Terrace torched around 45 acres on Monday, skirting close to a residential area, but officials were hopeful they had it under control.

"I don't want to speak too soon, but it appears that the crew has things under control, but with fire you can't say done until you're really done," Washington Terrace City Manager Tom Hanson told reporters. Firefighters will "be around for a while, taking care of hot spots and getting it to where you're at 100% containment."

A Weber County sheriff's deputy who responded to the fire sustained minor injuries while a Washington Terrace resident also sustained an undisclosed injury. One home sustained minor damage — one of the closest points the fire reached to a residential area — while a trailer at the residence sustained heavy damage. The fire blackened a field just feet from another nearby home.

The cause of the fire, which caused a mandatory evacuation for some that was lifted later in the day for most impacted residents, was still under investigation. It's been dubbed the Adams Fire and comes in the wake of another Weber County fire last week in Roy that destroyed three homes.

Firefighters will "work to identify a source of origin and then preserve that source of origin so an investigation team can come in and do a thorough investigation of the cause of the fire," said Karl Hunt, spokesman for the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, which was assisting in the probe. The investigation "could take a couple days or take a couple weeks."

Representatives from the Utah State Marshal's Office were on hand to help in the investigation as well as the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firefighters from all over the area helped douse the blaze, as well as a group from North Dakota that happened to be in the area.

The fire zone sits south of Washington Terrace in an undeveloped area that slopes down to a railroad line, the Weber River and I-84, just north of the Davis County line. A residential area sits immediately north of the impacted zone, and Washington Terrace officials ordered an evacuation of part of that area, along 5500 South, south to the fire line and from Adams Avenue west to 500 West.

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"Your safety is our highest priority," the city said in a Facebook post. "Please leave the area as soon as it is safe to do so and follow all directions from emergency personnel."

Mayor Mark Allen said the fire prompted plenty of concern. He lives in the initial area that was evacuated and had to leave his own home. "It was getting scary … Aggressive, very aggressive," he said.

Video provided by the city showed intense flames burning the grassy area just south of the city, adjacent to the yard of a home.

Later in the day, the evacuation order was lifted for all homes except for some on the south side of 5700 South in the fire zone. As of late Monday afternoon, firefighters and trucks remained in the area of the home that sustained damage.

The Riverdale trail going south was also closed due to firefighting, according to Riverdale city officials. The Senior Center at 4301 S. 300 West, meanwhile, was opened to residents as a temporary shelter, according to the city.

The fire was called in around 11:30 or 11:45 a.m., and some residents were dousing their yards with water from garden hoses in response. Hanson, though, said such efforts had little impact given the intensity of the blaze, also noting that the area sits in the city's wildland-urban interface. "Some of them had shrub oak and things behind their homes that went up really, really fast," Hanson said.

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