FRUIT HEIGHTS, Utah — For some, living in Fruit Heights is the perfect place for peace and quiet. One future resident, David Smith, said that’s exactly why he’s moving to the neighborhood.
“We decided, let's escape the busy and come up here to the mountains where we don’t have any neighbors, for sure no backyard neighbors,” Smith said.
As Smith waits for his new home to be built, others like Fawn Morgan have lived in Fruit Heights almost their entire life. She agrees that the surrounding beauty is what makes people stay.
“We appreciate that people like to come up here and hike up to the Forest Service, bike up there, and we want to keep it protected,” Morgan said.
Morgan and her family own a property in Fruit Heights that used to be filled with orchards and animals. She said they love to preserve the history in the area.
Morgan, as well as Smith, said recently that something has been overshadowing that beauty, as at the end of Rock Loft Ridge Drive, kids and teenagers have been dumping their trash and starting bonfires on the side of the mountain.
“The leftovers were couches, apparently a trampoline, but more importantly, garbage everywhere, and my primary concern are these fire pits…” Smith said. “The last thing we want are people starting fires, especially when it’s not legal. We can’t be having open flames, but to start a fire, anything can happen.”
Firefighters battle flames, smoke and now Utah's summer heat:
Surrounded by brush, Morgan shared how the community is no stranger to wildfires.
“One spark, we can’t afford that," she said. "We’ve had it before. Our family’s been evacuated once before with a massive fire along here, and we don’t want that to happen again."
By bringing awareness to the issue, residents and future residents hope others will be more mindful of their properties.
“The views; what we have here is a legacy for everybody, and one spark could cause a devastating fire. So I hope people talk to their kids and explain that we all have an obligation and a responsibility here to keep our mountains safe and clean,” Morgan said.
The city has asked the Davis County Sheriff’s Department to patrol the specific area more often, which they have been doing in recent nights.
Fruit Heights City Manager Darren Frandsen added that officials will place signs across the city sometime next week to remind everyone of the fire ordinance currently in place.
