How live ammo training and high winds caused Herriman fire

HERRIMAN — Sunday afternoon's training at Camp Williams started like any other.

It was routine live ammunition training, and it met the criteria for the day, including those for current weather conditions, said Lt. Col. Hank McIntire.

It's not unheard of for live ammunition to start a grass fire at the Utah National Guard camp, so fire personnel at Camp Williams were on standby in case anything went wrong, McIntire said.

Around 12:30 p.m., a fire did crop up, though it's unknown exactly how it started. Crews were notified and then responded immediately, McIntire said. They worked on the fire until they thought it was extinguished.

But it only takes a little bit of ember to cause a fire to flare up again.

Eventually the fire reignited and with a change of the wind it moved to Camp Williams' artillery impact area. The land contains unexploded ordnance, McIntire said, and once the fire reached the area, fire fighting was hampered.

If fire were to cause ordnance to explode, it could potentially kill a water-dropping helicopter pilot flying overhead, he said.

As Guard firefighters worked around the artillery area, it became evident the fire was growing too much for them to handle, so they summoned the Unified Fire Authority at 3:30 p.m.

In hindsight, it would have been better to have Unified firefighters helping sooner, McIntire said, but the wind didn't pick up until after the fire started.

Until that time, it behaved like any other fire, he said.

With winds gusting to 50 mph at some points, the fire moved fast, said Unified Fire Capt. Brad Taylor.

"Faster than we can run," he said.

Eventually the fire burned 3,500 acres with no containment as of Monday morning. Four homes have been destroyed and 1,600 homes evacuated. Officials reported that 83 people slept at Herriman High School Sunday night.

And 14 dogs, 7 cats and 83 horses were sheltered during the night.

Seven schools have been closed Monday.

Firefighters expect to begin an aerial attack on the fire today.

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