Managing mud: Provo City addressing increased debris flow risks following Buckley Draw Fire
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- The burn scar from the Buckley Draw Fire is pictured Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Provo.
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- Cement barriers placed on Nevada Avenue by city officials to mitigate debris flow concerns are shown Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Provo.
Provo City is taking steps to ensure any mudslides triggered on the barren mountainside where the Buckley Draw Fire burned do not impact any homes or buildings in the coming months.
The fire was downgraded Monday to a Type 4 fire and is contained on the west perimeter, but it burned hundreds of acres on the west side of Buckley Mountain, leaving the mountainside with a large burn scar.
Burned ground, poor soil conditions or heavy rain can increase the chance of debris flow after the wildfire, according to Provo engineer Shane Winters, but the city is confident that the homes beneath the draw will not be impacted thanks to an existing debris channel that was installed in 2003.
The channel performed well when a mudslide occurred soon after it was installed, Winters said, and is still expected to hold up two decades later.
However, land north of Buckley Draw remains more vulnerable to debris flow, where excavation work is taking place on a development property on the hillside east of Nevada Avenue.
The debris channel does not extend to the development area, and beneath the development is a meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, causing some concern.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Provo Utah Stake sent out a letter to its members Wednesday warning of the increased risk of mudslides, which said, “In the past, a berm, fencing, and cement barriers were installed to help protect the Colonial Building and surrounding neighborhood. However, with the new housing development east of the building, those cement barriers were removed.”
Provo City responded to these concerns by placing cement barriers on the north side of the church meant to block any debris flow that reached the building. In addition, Winters said the developers of the undeveloped property inserted “check dams” and added extra measures at the point where the debris channel exits onto the property.
“Now as they get working on the new development, there’s just neighborhood concern and church concern about that potentially now being more channelized toward the church,” Winters said. “So precautionary measures right now, barriers along Nevada Avenue, will just help mitigate some concerns.”
Winters said the developers intend to continue the debris channel as well and anticipates it will be completed by next year.
“That will head about 1,200 feet north, similar to what is out there right now above the existing homes,” he said.
In 2002, a 3,000-acre wildfire burned near Buckley Draw and led to an increased risk of debris flow.
Provo City, FEMA and the Forest Service responded by building the 1,500-foot debris channel, and according to the Deseret News, when a mudflow occurred in the location in September 2003, it was caught by the debris channel and caused no damage.
Winters said the highest chance for a mudslide to recur would be during a high-intensity rain event, most likely in August, September or into the spring.
“We get rain events in October. Usually they’re not intense; they’re long-duration, which has a much lower probability for debris flow,” Winters said. “After October and when we get into winter, the debris chance would subside, and then potentially in the spring when we have wet soil conditions or a rain event, we could have a high probability of debris flow.”
