Crews turn back flames from Bountiful neighborhood overnight

Bountiful • Dozens of firefighters, aided by tanker aircraft laden with fire-retardant chemicals, on Wednesday were mopping up a blaze that threatened a luxury home subdivision in the eastern hills above this Davis County community overnight.

The Summerwood Fire was reported just after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.  By Wednesday morning, the South Davis Metro Fire District reported the fire had been mapped at 75 acres and did not appear to be spreading further.

But the blaze was zero percent contained as crews continued to build fire lines, with support from a helicopter dropping water.

Early on, the flames had burned within a quarter-mile of about 50 homes in the Summerwood subdivision, not far from Eaglewood Golf Course. 

No evacuations had been ordered by Wednesday morning and no homes had been lost to the flames, though smoke continued to waft through the Davis County community. A nearby LDS Church meeting house had been opened Tuesday evening as a temporary shelter for any homeowners wishing to use it, but few if any did so.

The fire sparked in rugged terrain between the subdivision and City Creek Canyon, Bountiful police Lt. Troy Killian said. The area proved difficult for firefighters to access, he said, as flames moved through oak trees, brush and grass.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but prevailing hot, dry conditions have made the brush and scrub oak on the region’s benches tinder dry.

The fire was burning mostly on public lands as of Wednesday morning. Crews from the federal Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service and several northern Utah agencies fought the flames.

South Davis Metro Fire officials said Tunnel Springs Park in North Salt Lake and North Canyon Park in Bountiful remained closed, being used as staging areas by firefighters and their equipment.

Bountiful City police added that Mueller Park Canyon and North Canyon were closed.