CEDAR HILLS, Utah — After a wildfire was sparked in front people's homes in Cedar Hills, FOX 13 spoke with a few neighbors who evacuated with their families for a few hours Wednesday night as firefighters got control of the fire.
“I saw the flames and I was like, oh wow that’s a really big fire that’s going on back there," said Paris Fewkes, had to evacuate from Cedar Hills wildfire.
As her neighborhood was winding down for the evening Wednesday, calls starting coming in.
"Everyone was outside knocking on doors getting people out," said Fewkes.
Fewkes could hardly believe she and her family were being evacuated, but they did so as calmly as they could.
"To actually be evacuated from your house, it was scary. We were able to grab important documents, extra clothes and stuff like that, and get in our cars. But like, already we had to back out through our lawn because there were so many police trucks,” said Fewkes.
Residents were allowed to head home around 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Fewkes shared how it felt like a close call, she's thankful for all of the first responders who got there quickly. "And especially when we saw how close it was to the houses and because these are townhomes we are like, if one of these catches then they’re all going down right,” said Fewkes.
Thursday afternoon, officials said the last fire map was at 14 acres and 20% containment.
Crews were out all day working the fire.
“Couple engine crews and a hand crew, they’re the perimeter of the fire right now checking for hot spots, making sure nothing is going to get out and also the gridding the interior of the fire looking for any deeper hotspots,” said Justin Roach, DNR Area Manager for the Wasatch Front.
Officials told FOX 13 it was human-caused and it's still being investigated.
Now that fireworks are being sold, Cedar Hills mayor, Denise Andersen wanted to remind people there are limitations: "every neighborhood east of canyon road all fireworks are restricted even the ground fireworks."
DNR is asking people to be cautious. “I’d say most of our feels in the Wasatch Front area are about a month ahead of schedule right now which is definitely alarming in the local scene, things as you saw last night can get up and going really quick,” said Roach.
Agencies recommended, follow your local ordinances, and always check online before using any sort of fire.
"Please understand that there are restrictions in place I know it seems fun to do fireworks during this time of year but it’s not worth the consequences,” said Andersen.
Cedar Hills neighborhood kids suggested think twice before you light a firework: “probably wouldn’t want to do that because this is like a wildlife place and if you launch a firework it might be possible that the firemen can’t stop it,” said the Hemelstrand's.
The siblings also shared their gratitude to Utah's first responders. "Thank you for saving my life. I’d say thank you so much, we really appreciate you guys. Yeah thank you,” said the Hemelstrands.
