WEST BOUNTIFUL, Utah — A phragmites burn that dumped ash in neighborhoods as far away as Ogden caused some alarm for people in northern Utah.
The 1,500-acre burn was being carried out Monday near Antelope Island to help the Great Salt Lake. But the winds carried ash north, dumping it in yards across Davis and Weber counties.
Video below shows smoke plume rising from prescribed burn in Davis County (Clif Bradford:)
The large plume of smoke had people stopped along the road along the Legacy Parkway and West Davis Corridor, wondering if it was an out-of-control wildfire. Video from FOX 13 News viewer Clif Bradford showed the massive plume rising from west Davis County.
"Just a bunch of ash flying down from the sky," Nathan Neerings, who saw it from Syracuse, told FOX 13 News.
"Running errands, then randomly what the heck is going on?" added Maya Neerings.
But Utah's Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands, which was carrying out the prescribed burn, said there was no need to panic. The burn was doing what it was supposed to be doing, which is removing invasive phragmites around Antelope Island to help get more water into the lake.
Phragmites is an invasive species that takes a lot of water that would normally flow into the lake. The state has been at war with it for years, trying to remove it from wetlands.
WATCH: Utah says it's making progress in the war on phragmites
According to FOX 13 Utah Weather Authority meteorologist Brek Bolton, the controlled burns have caused the impressive pyrocumulus clouds to form. The clouds form over fires as hot air rises and then cools.
In some instances, the clouds can create their own weather conditions and can generate additional winds. FOX 13 News documented rain in Centerville at the same time as the prescribed burn.
Winds during a separate controlled burn in Salt Lake County on Monday caused a fire to spread to a nearby property in South Jordan, burning about a quarter of an acre before it was put out.
Video below shows South Jordan property burned after prescribed burn got out of control:
