Evacuation order reinstated as ‘rapidly growing’ fire burns above Fruit Heights

A helicopter battles a blaze in the foothills above Fruit Heights on Monday, Sept. 26, 2019. | Shawn Stewart, For the Deseret News

FRUIT HEIGHTS — Orders to evacuate were again issued followed initial confusion Monday as a windblown wildfire spread across the mountainside above Fruit Heights and in Adams Canyon.

Mandatory evacuations were announced just before 5 p.m. for the Oakmont area between 1375 East and 1800 East, and the Mountain Road area from 200 North to the gun range, and to 650 North, the Davis County Sheriff’s Office announced.

Around 3 p.m., shortly after the fire flared up, Utah fire officials had reported evacuations had been ordered for about 20 homes in Layton’s Adams Canyon. However, within an hour they issued a correction, saying no evacuations were in place with the exception of the canyon’s trails.

Elizabeth Solis of the Davis County Sheriff’s Office said the orders to evacuate had changed as the fire did. It was unknown how many homes were affected.

“With the winds and everything and the fire moving, we want to make sure that people’s safety is a priority,” Solis said.

Solis said those ordered to evacuate will have support from law enforcement and emergency personnel as they leave, if they act when they are instructed to.

“If people don’t leave their homes, they will be left to their own means to leave later,” she warned.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kim Osborn said the Francis Fire, initially estimated at 50 acres, had grown to more than 100 acres. Meanwhile, the Great Basin Coordination Center — which supports wildfire fighting efforts in Utah and Nevada, and parts of Idaho, Wyoming mountains and Arizona — reported the flames had reached as much as 200 acres.

Fire footage courtesy of Keith Patrick: pic.twitter.com/tKSYvjXQOW

— Deseret News (@DeseretNews) September 16, 2019

The sheriff’s office said on social media just after 3 p.m. Monday that search and rescue crews were responding to Adams Canyon and the areas surrounding Davis County Animal Care and Control.

Layton officials warned on Twitter that strong winds were pushing the flames north. The city also asked that residents not call 911 to report the fire, and assured that anyone needing to evacuate would be notified. Drivers were also asked to avoid U.S. 89 between Fruit Heights and Layton.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known, the sheriff’s office said.

The fire also impacted bus routes north of 200 North and east of U.S. 89, according to the sheriff’s office. The Utah Transit Authority advised that the Fruit Heights Park and Ride had been closed for emergency crews, and impacted buses will be diverted.

Buses from Morgan and East Layton elementary schools were also being affected. Parents of students on those buses were told to pick their children up at the schools.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

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