Herriman fire

This fire has been raging since noon on Sunday (19th) and is less than five miles south of our house. Last night, because the smoke was so thick, we prepped the 5th wheel trailer, put the hitch back in the bed of my truck and prepared to evacuate -- not so much because of the fire, but because the smoke was so thick.

Sourced via the Salt Lake Tribune
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"It's chaos," said Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson as he helped move residents out of their homes.At least 1,400 homes had been evacuated as of midnight and some had caught fire, said emergency responders who descended on Herriman from across the valley and pushed through crowds of onlookers.

Meanwhile, as many as 250 evacuees waited for updates at a Red Cross center at Herriman High School.

Melissa Kula said she and her husband packed their car while they watched flames rise over the ridge behind their home on Muirwood Circle. When they pulled away at 8 p.m., flames were almost to their backyard.

"I'm devastated, to say the least," Kula said, tears welling in her eyes. Her family had lived in the home since June. As of Sunday night, she assumed it had burned.

Authorities could not confirm which or how many houses had burned Sunday night. "Upwards of 100," homes were in jeopardy, said Unified Fire Authority Chief Michael Jensen.

The blaze started during a National Guard training session when a spark from a soldier's round ignited dry brush, said Utah National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Hank McIntire.

"They knew immediately and they got on it right away," but did not have enough manpower and equipment to contain the fire, McIntire said.

From Camp Williams, the fire moved into Arnold's Hollow of Rose Canyon and jumped over a dirt road that had previously acted as a barrier on Camp Williams' northern border at Black Ridge, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Brad Taylor. Bulldozers were digging up fire breaks to the fire's east to keep it from spreading into the valley, but Taylor said they would not be effective until the winds die down.