Ogden fire crews battle multiple blazes Wednesday

OGDEN — Ogden firefighters battled several blazes on Wednesday, and officials say it appears children started all of the fires.

The first fire started about 9 a.m. near Parker Drive and 31st Street along the Ogden River Parkway. The flames, fueled by cottonwood trees and other brush, spread to five acres and burned until about 4 p.m.

Just an hour later and 10 blocks away, another fire was reported near Parker Drive and 21st Street. It spread to 15 acres and was finally contained around 10 p.m. Wednesday, Ogden Fire Battalion Chief Corey Barton said. Hotspots kept nine units and four fire departments dealing with the blaze, but officials expected the fire to be completely out around midnight.

Both times, witnesses said children were seen fleeing the area.

At 9 p.m., yet another fire was called in, this time in the foothills east of Ogden. Officials say the fire was caused by a number of pre-teen children playing with fireworks. Fire crews were able to douse the flames before they got out of hand, Barton said.

For Ogden fire crews, this is the fourth time in the past week that a fire has occurred at the parkway.

"If you're on the parkway, please watch out for individuals down there," Barton said. "There was one last week, one Saturday night and two today. Just watch for anything suspicious along there."

It's not only frustrating for officials, it's also time-consuming and wasting taxpayers dollars, he said.

"This is taking a lot of our resources away from other important things," Barton said. "Four major departments were busy most of the day with these fires."

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com