Crews keep fire from Salt Lake homes

New homes on the crest of City Creek Canyon were spared from flames as nearly every fire agency in the vicinity came to fight the Wednesday afternoon blaze.

Fires were also reported in Herriman and Utah County.

Around 4 p.m., joggers in the Memory Grove area saw a woman running away from where the flames began, but when officials arrived, the fire had already reached Bonneville Boulevard (250 East) near 11th Avenue, said assistant battalion chief Dennis McKone of the Salt Lake City Fire Department. The fire moved quickly through dry oak brush and eventually crossed the road.

The four-acre fire was contained fairly quickly. Crews kept an eye on hot spots to be sure winds did not pick up and recharge the flames, McKone said. The fire was out by nightfall.

No evacuations were necessary, but McKone said firefighters lined hoses between the homes, ready to keep flames from touching them if needed.

"At one point we had guys pushing the fire line away from the back yards of those new homes," he said. Memory Grove was closed for a couple of hours while crews investigated the fire.

McKone said because lightning didn't hit the area until after the fire started, and no other cause was apparent, crews were calling the blaze suspicious. Witnesses are asked to call 799-FIRE with any information on the cause of the fire.

In Herriman, a pair of grass fires, presumably started by lightning just after 5 p.m., burned more than four acres in Rose Canyon and on Shaggy Mountain, near 14400 South and 8200 West.

Unified Fire Authority spokesman Jay Fearnley said only one home in the High Country Estates was potentially threatened, but no evacuations were ordered as they were able to contain the fire in just over two hours. The U.S. Forest Service crews took over the other fire, specifically with an air attack, involving two air tankers and a helicopter dropping water on the fire.

The Shaggy Mountain fire occurred just a quarter-mile away from another fire that required residents to evacuate about two weeks ago.

Two other fires also started late Wednesday evening. The Sierra Fire has consumed about 100 acres and is growing, said Teresa Rigby, Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman.