WEST HAVEN, Utah — A grass fire in West Haven trapped two mothers and their children before they were able to evacuate Friday night.
The fire at Prevedel Park was characterized by the Weber Fire District as "fast-moving" after it began at approximately 7 p.m.
When crews arrived at the fire scene, they found that four people were trapped by the flames and needed to be evacuated by firefighters.
Janet Thaeler was one of those trapped. She and a friend had brought their kids to the park to kick off the summer.
"We were just wading in the river and the kids were throwing rocks in and then all of a sudden we started seeing all this ash raining down from the sky," Thaeler explained. "I was like, what is going on.
"It was in our hair. And it was getting dark and I said we should go back and I see smoke and we started hearing the sirens, and I thought is that close by? It sounds like it is."
Thaeler and the other mom, and their kids, soon found themselves surrounded by the fire that had started at a nearby campfire.
"As we turned a corner, we saw flames on both sides of the trail. It was almost like a movie," she said.
The group found themselves disoriented, not knowing which wat they should go.
"And then [the other mother's] little boy started crying and my daughter started crying and then the firefighters were on the intercom and said you need to evacuate the area, and so we went the other way but then when we went up the trail it also had flames."
Luckily, at that moment, they saw a firefighter who came in a truck and drove them to safety.
"We weren’t able to get any of our things," explained Thaeler. "We just had to get out."
With only their wallets a d car keys, the group went down to the Ogden River while still reeling from just how frightening it all was and how fast it happened.
"That’s the thing that’s really scary how hot it gets really fast, and we could see on both sides there were just flames starting everywhere," Thaeler said.
The fire was eventually contained to five acres and there were no injuries or structure damage.
"It was so close, and so dry there," she shared. "It seemed like the whole place could go up in flames any second because there’s all this cotton on the ground and all this dry wood and its’ really dry and scary.
A preliminary investigation showed the fire was accidentally ignited by a campfire that spread into surrounding cotton debris.
Prevedel Park gas been closed to all camping and foot traffic until further notice due the fire.
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