Comments about ‘How live ammo training and high winds caused Herriman fire’

Hind sight is always 20/20. Hopefully it can be contained today, and put out really quickly.

Red flag warnings are issued for a reason and should not be ignored. Red flag warnings were issued on Friday to cover the entire state for the entire weekend. Common sense should tell one that when it is hot, windy, dry, and the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning, that maybe live fire exercises should be suspended until conditions are safe.

It's interesting what Tracer ammunition can do hey, (tracers) are special bullets that are modified to accept a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited upon firing, the composition burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye. This enables the shooter to follow the bullet trajectory relative to the target in order to make corrections to his or her aim. When used, US tracers are usually loaded as every fifth round in machine gun belts, referred to as four-to-one tracer. Platoon and squad leaders will sometimes load their magazines entirely with tracers to mark targets for their soldiers to fire on. Tracers are also sometimes placed two or three rounds from the bottom of magazines to alert the shooter that his or her weapon is almost empty. Gov. Gary Herbert posted to his Twitter site after landing from an aerial tour of the blaze with other state and local officials: "An amazing scene, firefighting efforts are making a difference even over last night." I would move out of Utah then, if that's the state's warning system.



















Remember, Smoky the bear say's, "only YOU" can prevent forest fires.

This is a clear example on encroachment and the greed of developers. Many years ago when I started training at Camp Williams there were a few farms around the training base. They were all good neighbors. Then came the greedy money from developers to gooble up the land, and now they'll complain about the military base so close to the urban ares. County adminstrators to the planning commision, you know who you are. Shame on you for putting inocent lives at risk.

Training soliders for combat is a dangerous business, urban sprawl shoud not not stand in the way, they are the ones to blame.

@Chuck,

According to the LtCol, they were not firing any tracers. He stated fact that over the broadcast news, but the printed and internet media have failed to pick up that important piece of information.

@omahahusker

"Training soliders for combat is a dangerous business, urban sprawl shoud not not stand in the way, they are the ones to blame."

Training combat soldiers does not absolve the military from being a good neighbor. They should not have been training with live fire weapons during red flag conditions, period. Listening to their Public Affairs Officer hem and haw around the quesiton of why they were live fire training during a red flag warning was pretty disgusting. The National Weather Service has a website, radio transmissions, and a phone recording to get current weather information. The excuse of not knowing there was a red flag warning just doesn't cut it.

Huh? The headline claims that live-ammo training caused the fire, but the article itself says that the cause is “unknown.” Which is it? Yes, live-ammo training can cause a fire, but in most cases it’s rare. If the article is accurate, then the headline seems irresponsible.

Re: VST | 12:49 p.m. Sept. 20, 2010
Bountiful, UT
@Chuck, According to the LtCol, they were not firing any tracers. He stated fact that over the broadcast news, but the printed and internet media have failed to pick up that important piece of information.




Reply: But I thought DN was perfect?. Yet they have failed to pick up that important piece of information, and what about Utah's State government, they to have failed to pick up that important piece of information, and even your Gov. in his tweets on Twitter have failed to pick up that important piece of information. I would move out of Utah then, if that's the state's warning system. When used, US tracers are usually loaded as every fifth round in machine gun belts, referred to as four-to-one tracer. It's interesting what Tracer ammunition can do hey, (tracers) are special bullets that are modified to accept a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited upon firing, the composition burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye. If the article is accurate, then the headline seems irresponsible. I was in the Military, I know better.

Sorry Chuck, but I only repeated what the LtCol said on television. He said they were not using tracers because of the "…high potential for fire danger."

If you believe the Colonel (I do), then obviously the fire started without the use of tracers. In case you never noticed from your military experience, sparks can occur from just a plain old regular round striking a rock. I have also been there—done that.

You can stay in Florida. I am perfectly satisfied to stay here in Utah.

Enjoy all that spilled oil in the Gulf.

@omahahusker: Who is innocent anyway? Those folks chose to move in near a military base. Certain inherent risks exist.

@Brother Chuck Schroeder: I'm sure Florida's nice but you may want to consider moving to my neck of the woods, Arizona. I believe it would be well suited to you because of all the hot air.

Hey Chuck! Ditto VST-

I learned at Camp Blanding (on Kingsley Lake near Jacksonville, yep in Florda) that non-tracer rounds can cause fires.

And as far as living in Florida versus Utah. . . I was raised in Florida, came to Utah for 20 years, went back to Florida for 3 years and got out before the bottom fell out of the real estate market. I was in Tampa three years ago with a house on the market for $265,000, got $230,000 and now Zillo says it's worth $165,000. I'm sooooooo glad we got out. And now, for much less than we sold our house for in Florida, we have TWICE the house here!!!

I love my Florida heritage, but wouldn't want to live there.

Every four to five years the people of Herriman, Bluffdale and surrounding areas are hit by a fire from Camp Williams. The last time, everyone involved, particularly the State National Guard, said protective/corrective measures were in place so it would not happen again. Not. Hopefully this fire, with its destruction will finally get the Unified Fire Authority involved in what Camp Williams does, or does not do when it comes to live firing.

CampWilliams Base officer says Hes taking the Blame for this cause of the fire,right/

All said on the news tonight.I feel so sorry for those Families that have nothing left..

Thanks to the Community and Many FireFighters thru this terrible Fire that went out of control.
if you twiiter give them hope and support when when its needed.

God Bless them out there in south salt lake!

..its too dang Dry!!!!