Tulip Photo Shoot

Machine Gun Fire

Large fire burning near Camp Williams forces evacuations
September 20th, 2010 @ 1:28am
CAMP WILLIAMS -- Crews are working to contain a large, fast-moving fire sparked at a Camp Williams machine gun firing range Sunday.

At least 1,400 homes in Herriman have been evacuated, and more evacuations are expected to take place overnight.

Fire officials have confirmed three homes have caught fire, but did not give specific addresses. That number could grow as hundreds of homes face immediate threat.

Herriman City Mayor Josh Mills and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon have signed a declaration of State of Emergency. Gov. Gary Herbert is also on site.

Mandatory evacuation orders issued

The Unified Police Department has set up barricades enforcing evacuation orders.

Unified Fire Capt. Brad Taylor says residents of 232 homes in The Cove at Herriman Springs and all 500 homes in the High Country Estates II subdivision are under mandatory evacuation.

The city has expanded the mandatory evacuation order to homes and businesses:

South of Emmeline Drive, Butterfield Parkway and Blackridge Reservoir
On Rose Canyon Road
South of 14000 South and west of 4700 West (Juniper Point neighborhood)
Westbound 13400 South at 5600 West is shut down as well. Police have confirmed some residents have refused to leave their homes.

Red Cross sets up shelter at Herriman High School

An evacuation site has been set up at Herriman High School at 11917 S. 6000 West. The site was originally established at Fort Herriman Middle School but had to be moved when the fire got too close.

As of 11:25 p.m., close to 150 people had checked into the American Red Cross shelter at the high school. Some small animals are being accepted at the shelter, and animal control is on site.

CERT volunteers helped set up 600 cots for residents staying the night. Red Cross officials say they do not need any more volunteers at the shelter for now.

Large animals are now being evacuated to the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park at 2051 W. 11400 South.

"This is really a coordinated, collaborated effort to see what we can do to stop the fire," said Gov. Herbert.

Officials are asking residents in Salt Lake County to stay off their cell phones so emergency information can be transmitted. Residents are asked not to call 911, but to instead call Herriman City Hall at 801-446-5323. Updates are also available on Twitter at Be Ready Herriman.

Information from the American Red Cross is available by calling 801-323-7000.

Multiple agencies join forces to fight fire

Helicopters have been brought in to drop buckets of water and fire retardant to fight the blaze. Over 100 firefighters and 30 units are working to control the flames, which have spread over hundreds of acres.

More than 120 National Guardsman have been activated to help with the effort. Thirty-five CERT volunteers and 40 Herriman officials are on site as well.

Taylor says three officers have been hurt. Two were treated for smoke inhalation, one at the hospital and one on site.

A third officer was injured when he tried to stop the driver of a car at a roadblock. The driver refused to stop, and drove through, hitting the officer. He suffered minor injuries and is still working at the scene.

Training at Camp Williams ignites blaze

According to Lt. Col. Hank McIntire with the Utah National Guard, the fire broke out at the Camp Williams machine gun range during a training exercise just before 3:30 p.m. The flames spread quickly.

Earlier in the day, the fire was fueled by winds of up to 35 miles per hour. Fire officials say those gusts made it extremely difficult to fight the flames.

"Because of the wind gusts we are getting embers that are being blown a couple of hundred feet. That can start spot fires," said Taylor.

An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fire has been launched. McIntire says no tracer rounds, which can be a fire hazard, were used in the machine gun training.

He says there are rules in place regarding what weather conditions must be present in order for that training to occur and says they will investigate whether any of those rules was broken.

"With the wind with the way it is today conditions can change very quickly," McIntire said. "So if a unit had the green light to train but the conditions changed, that's what we're trying to find out."

Residents react

Thousands of residents are dealing with the idea they may not have homes to return to.

"It's been pretty frightening for me. I've seen at least three, four homes burn down, completely collapse," said Joshua Bennett, a Herriman resident. "It's basically hell. Just out of control. There's no stopping it."

Some were concerned there weren't enough people there to fight the giant blaze.

"There were at least two houses completely engulfed in flames," said evacuee Kristin Cappo. "It's all the way down the side of the mountains, right in everybody's backyards. It doesn't really look like anybody is trying to stop it yet. There were a bunch of cul-de-sacs where nobody was even up there yet, so I just don't think they have enough people. "

One man says he returned home, only to be told he had to get out. "When I got home, I saw the fire all the way from I-80. I didn't feel good about that," he said. "I threw all my coolers and stuff and grabbed documents and important memorabilia."

John Tedrow lives in The Cove subdivision. He refused to leave his neighborhood when the mandatory evacuation notice was issued, and says he wasn't alone.

"I've just got my eyes stuck on a spot that I think, where my house might have been, still is, I don't know because I can't even get answers from the police officers down here," he said.

Tedrow says he and his neighbors were frustrated with the way officials handled the situation. Many felt blown off when they called 911 to report the fire.

"The first helicopter didn't even get up here until sometime after 6:00 tonight with water," he said. "By that time that fire had already breached, it had already come well over the mountain."

Schools may be impacted

Jordan School District officials are debating whether to close Herriman schools Monday. District spokesman Steve Dunham says anywhere between 800 and 1,200 students could be affected.

Dunham says an announcement will be made early Monday morning. Providence Hall Charter Elementary School is the first to cancel class because of the fire.

Lt. Don Hutson with the Unified Police Department says one woman has been treated for smoke inhalation. City officials are asking everyone to stay away from Herriman because congestion is becoming an issue.

"I appreciate the fact that people are working together. We've had an abundance of volunteers. That's been great, very heartwarming," said Gov. Herbert. "In fact it's almost been too much. Some of the volunteers are clogging the streets."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has authorized federal funds to help cover 75 percent of the costs related to fighting this fire.

Gov. Herbert says he is already looking at ways to help residents affected by the fire rebuild.

"Everything that can be done is being done. We will be looking at helping people with resources, make sure we will have continued shelter capability, food, clothes, medications, those kinds of things that people will be needing over the next few days," the governor said. "This doesn't end today and it doesn't end when the fire's out. We've got some other work to do long term."

People Who Hike With Goats

It has been more than 15 years since I hiked Timpanogas and I finally did it for my third time. My dad and I hiked all 18 miles on Friday, September 3rd. Nate conveniently dropped a dutch oven on his foot and had to sit this one out. It was long and hard and wonderful. My dad's ticker wasn't as ready as we thought for the incline on the hike but slowly and steadily we made it to the top.

After 8 miles up hill it was a wonderful site to see the fort at top. Almost there!

Some of my favorite things in the whole world. Waterfalls, lakes, pine trees that smell heavenly, wild flowers, amazing rock walls. I loved it.

The glacier melted so much this year that instead of sledding down the snow on garbage bags we had to sit on our haunches and slide down the steep rock hill.

We took a few more hours than anticipated so my mom called the county to give them a heads up and left more than a million messages on our phones. (We called her from the top to warn her, but she still freaked out.) I think the volunteer by Emerald lake was concerned about our late descent too so he radioed down to the bottom for them to watch out for us to make sure we made it off the mountain. We had to do the last mile by headlamp but seriously, who cares, we just hiked 18 miles in one day!

Oh Christmas Tree

One day I will have a "pretty" Christmas tree. One day I will have a Christmas tree that looks like a department store tree; ornaments hung perfectly, creative trimming that makes people want to copy my ideas, and a shiny perfect star at the top of the tree. For now, I love this tree. Every time I walk by it my heart feels extra warm for a minute. My kids had a wonderful time decorating the tree exactly the way they wanted it to look and every day it changes a bit as they continue to rearrange it. I have kept true to my word and I haven't adjusted it one bit. The night they put on the ornaments was too fun to mess with the memory.

Good-bye Red House

I love my red house. I love our beautiful flower boxes. I love that all my neighbors are only two inches away from us if I am missing an ingredient while cooking dinner, or if I am in the mood to chat there is always someone within hollering distance. After 6 years of apartment living while Nate was in dental school this house seemed like the Taj Mahal to us. What a great way to start. We feel so spoiled. Our neighbors are wonderful, our neighborhood fantastic but now we say good-bye. With the housing market being so great for buyers we decided to trade in our 1/16th of an acre lot in for a full acre lot. Thank you red house for all the wonderful memories and here's to looking for many more wondeful memories in our new green house.

Freezing at the Zoo

Andy in his skier/mugger mask, Maya and Hailee

I can barely see with this hat!

The family that freezes together, stays together.

(Because they have no choice they are FROZEN!!!)

Tina (the master mind behind the event). I don't know if we should praise her for the fun night, or charge her for the doctor's bill for frost bite. Ryan, Hailee and Jessica.

The awesome 3D twinkly lights, bottomless hot chocolate cups, and great company made it all worth it.

December Dance Recital

Maya dances with the Salt City STARS company. I love that they do a low-key December recital. Wear what you want and shake what your mama gave ya'.

Maya and her buddy Chloe love to pose for pictures and make up dances together. Way too cute. Chloe's mom has taken Maya to dance all this time, but now that we have moved it's time for me to pay my dues and get behind the wheel.

Maya has been counting down for two months for her turn to "be on stage!"

Andy played his DS throughout the recital. I only let him bring it along because he saved up for it and bought it himself. He may not have learned a lesson in hard work (because sitting around and letting his allowance accumulate didn't seem all that great of a work ethic lesson), but he did learn a great lesson in patience!

Show time!

For Maya, flowers are the best part!

Gingerbread Pajama Party

Pajamas plus yummy Chinese take-out equals a rockin' start to our traditional gingerbread making night! (Andy doesn't agree with the yummy part.)

The deer photo is just because I love having them visit us every day. These five came by the driveway as we were watching out the window waiting for Nate to get home for the festivities. When we put the yard in next spring I probably won't enjoy their company as much, but for now....so fun!

Summer Birthday

Maya has a summer birthday so her school is celebrating her June birthday tomorrow. I had so much fun looking at some baby photos we took of her in our apartment in Queens. Someone offered to come to our home and take pictures of our little baby so we wouldn't have to mess with her nap or feeding time and we thought it was a great idea. Maya even had fun!

My Three Blondes