WEBER COUNTY, Utah, July 5, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Fireworks were out of hand shortly after dark Monday, sending fire crews hopping countywide.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Weber County’s Fourth of July night was symptomatic of the whole state, but by 11 p.m. emergency dispatchers said they had counted 14 different fire agencies called out across the county. By 11:15 p.m. things had calmed to the point that only six grass fires were still going, officials said, after about a dozen or more were reported underway since 9:30 p.m.
Two structures were briefly threatened, but were apparently protected. Several power poles were reported on fire in the West Haven area.
North View Fire Marshal Ryan Barker said he’d heard the radio traffic about the burning power poles but didn’t know their fate.
His own department fought off three grass fires between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. All three, like most of the fires he’d heard of through the evening, were kept small and confined to the back yards where they started. Barker said one of the grass fires his department responded to did consume a car.
The department, which covers North Ogden and Pleasant View, had all nine of its fire vehicles out patrolling shortly after dusk. Asked about the wisdom of the holiday revelers who lost control of their celebrations, he said simply, “No comment.”
