‘Directly above our neighborhood’: Mountainside brush fire near Saratoga Springs spooks residents
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- Smoke from a brush fire on Lake Mountain in Saratoga Springs is visible Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
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- Retardant is dropped on a brush fire in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
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- Residents watch as crews work to put out a brush fire on Lake Mountain in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
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- An airplane approaches a brush fire in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
Crews are working to fully contain a brush fire burning near Israel Canyon on Lake Mountain above Saratoga Springs that ignited Wednesday just after 5 p.m.
According to Utah Fire Info, what’s being called the Clay Pit Fire has torched around 140 acres. In the latest update mid-Thursday morning, it was 50% contained.
Fire officials initially reported it had burned an estimated 200 acres, but the reduced acreage was determined after crews assessed the perimeter by air.
The canyon mostly sits in an unincorporated area and is operated by the Bureau of the Land Management, but city officials confirmed that the fire started on the Saratoga Springs side of the mountain. “So it very quickly kind of moved up the hill onto those state lands,” city spokesperson AnnElise Harrison told the Daily Herald when reached Thursday morning. “Crews worked through the night reinforcing the line of the fire. Residents may see flare-ups throughout the day in the interior of the line as crews continue to work the fire.”
Evacuations were not issued, but having an exit plan was the first thing resident Cheri Heller thought about when she discovered the billowing smoke. “It’s directly above our neighborhood,” she said.
Heller said she’d left home to run some errands about an hour prior to when the flames reportedly started. “I was down by Walmart, which is north of us, and I started driving home. I saw the smoke,” she told the Daily Herald.
Heller then called to alert her children what was happening. “I’m like, ‘Look, there’s a fire. It’s really small. … Don’t panic, but there’s something going on. I think it’s up above Maverik. You know, just be aware,'” she explained. Her daughters described being able to clearly see flames from their yard.
Though Wednesday’s mountain fire could have turned out much worse, for Heller, who’s been a resident since 2015, it brought back anxious feelings from just four years ago.
In June 2020, multiple fires wreaked havoc on Saratoga Springs.
The Knolls Fire started June 28, burning more than 12,000 acres, and over half of the city’s residents were forced to evacuate. And a couple of weeks prior to that, the Stillwater Fire, which burned on the same mountain as Wednesday’s fire, scorched more than 150 acres.
“You know, that’s still kind of on your mind and there’s just no real good ways to get in and out of Saratoga (Springs) when you live south,” Heller said.
Yet, she’s grateful to the fire crews from Saratoga Springs and elsewhere who worked quickly to get a handle on the flames.
Fire officials say the wind played a role in pushing the fire uphill, limiting the threat to homes.
As crews work to reach full containment, citizens are asked not to fly drones near the area, not to call 911 if they see flare-ups and try to stay away from the area.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
