Grateful residents return to neighborhood evacuated by Gun Range Fire

Daniel Fisher walks around what is left of the home where he and his wife Cherilyn Fisher lived in Bountiful on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. The home was one of three houses destroyed when the Gun Range Fire ignited early Friday morning. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

BOUNTIFUL — Evacuation orders triggered by the Gun Range Fire were lifted on Saturday morning, allowing Bountiful residents to return after more than a day worrying they might not ever step inside their homes again.

By 10 a.m. it looked like a normal day as residents jogged outside and watered their lawns, a stark difference to the barricades and emergency vehicles that lined the streets just 24 hours before.

Originally, Deanna Eiting had weekend plans to take her red Jeep for a ride in the mountains near her house with friends.

Instead, on Saturday morning she got into her Jeep and was seen delivering cupcakes to firefighters as a thank you for saving her home from the flames, which she estimates came within a few hundred yards of the house.

“I could never repay them,” she said.

As she stood in front of a road closure sign that prevented cars from going up the gun range, a place where she enjoyed driving and where the fire originated, she recalled the young policeman who told her she had to leave her home and had no time to grab her valuables.

But even with the rapid response after the fire ignited just before 1 a.m. Friday, three homes were destroyed and five others were damaged by the flames.

Among them was the home of Daniel and Cherilyn Fisher, which was reduced to piles of charred rubble strewn beneath a still upright chimney. Daniel Fisher walked about his property Saturday, inspecting what was left of his possessions, but declined to speak further about the loss.

By Saturday afternoon, officials announced the wildfire was at 80% containment and had burned approximately 321 acres, down from their original estimate of 365. The fire, started by an abandoned campfire, is under investigation.

Centerville Police Chief Paul Child said it was imperative to get people out of their homes as quickly as possible on Friday.

“This was a rapidly moving fire. It was moving with speed. We had high winds that were driving the fires going into the residential areas,” he said.

Eiting, who lives along 1400 N, said “incessant pounding and doorbell ringing” woke her and her husband around 1:30 a.m. on Friday.

“You could just see the glow of the flames, it was really quite frightening,” she said.

Before leaving her house, she said police had a hard time waking up her neighbor and were about to knock her door down when Eiting told them she knew a code to get into her house and woke her up.

She said the sight of the fire on a mountain she recognized so well was devastating.

“It’s such beautiful mountain and that’s why we live up here. We love it up here,” she said.

Eiting, along with her husband, took both their cars and she drove away thinking they might not see their home again.

But on Friday morning, officials allowed some residents to return to their homes.

Upon arriving, she said burnt leaves and ash covered her front lawn, along with more ash and a “horrid smell” left inside her home.

“I can’t (just) thank these guys for saving my house,” she said. “The least I could do is give them a cupcake.”

For Jessica Whittaker, the possibility of a wildfire affecting her neighborhood had always been a thought in the back of her mind, because their house was near the mountains and surrounded by brush.

On Saturday, shortly after 10 a.m., when she arrived back home with her husband, Justin, and their three children between the ages of 6 and 11, she said her street felt “eerie.”

When she walked into her home, she said her home’s walls and the clothes in their closets reeked of smoke. They plan to get their home inspected for smoke damage.

When Justin Whittaker first looked out the window the morning the fire erupted, he said it was “as bright as day.”

“I ran back inside and said ‘Grab whatever you can, we’re out of here,’” he said.

Above anything else, the Whittaker family said they are glad their children are safe.

Mitri Muna, who lives on Northridge Drive, said he evacuated on Friday, but later returned to wet the house down with a garden hose to prevent any dry material from catching fire. He expressed his gratitude the home was saved.

Matt Kister had just pulled into his driveway with his family Saturday morning when he described the experience as “scary” and “nerve-wracking,” but said they were glad to be back home.

He said a neighbor had called them to alert them about the fire, and by 3 a.m. Friday were out of their home.

“We started packing bags, documents and pictures. Anything that would be hard to replace,” he said.

Sherri Lindstrom was at her son’s home watching over her grandchildren when they got the evacuation order. She and the children rushed to a hotel room in Bountiful, where they spent the rest of the night peering through their window at the flames blazing near their home at the top of the hill.

At the hotel, she said the family downloaded police scanner apps on their phones to hear dispatchers give updates on the fire.

Lindstrom said she was certain the house would go up in flames, as a house near it on 1000 East was destroyed.

How her son’s house is still standing is a “miracle” for Lindstrom, and she expressed her gratitude for the emergency responders who spent long hours protecting homes from being destroyed.

“If any fire department could handle this situation, it was our South Davis community and our police department.”

Lindstrom, who has been a resident of the neighborhood for about 60 years, said she’d always been cognizant that a fire could be one day affect the area. But she never thought she’d see anything like she did.

“There are not enough words to tell the firefighters thank you for their work,” she said fighting back tears, “They’ll never be enough.”

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