BEAVER, Utah — It's been a stressful 24 hours for Beaver residents like Bruce Brown and Bruce Williams as the massive Cottonwood Fire exploded within hours, and right down the road from their homes,
After seven decades of living in the town, Brown and Williams know their mountains like the back of their hand.
Sitting on a backyard patio, Brown and Williams took phone calls from concerned neighbors. Unfortunately, they don't know much about the status of their cabins that sit over the hills.
“It’s called the Cottonwood Fire, but it’s long since left Cottonwood. It's gone all the way up Beaver Canyon. It’s headed to the ski resort Eagle Point right now," Brown said. "You can see there’s starting to be red flames right on the edge where it’s going to drop down into Briggs trail, but there’s been no fire like this ever.
"You don’t burn 22,000 acres in 15 hours.”
Thousands of acres are burning right in their backyard, but the hardest part for them is just sitting and watching.
“A year ago, yesterday, we were riding horses in that beautiful mountain," Williams said, "and it possibly won’t happen to be in that beautiful place anymore. I’ve done this all my life. Camped… all the things we did. Backyard people do that stuff."
For them, the area where the fire is burning is not just a place to camp and hike, it’s like a second home, too.
“My cabin is about right over there where the smoke is, but this, I don’t know why we sit and watch it like we do, because there’s nothing we can do about it. But there it is." Brown said.
In 1995, Brown built his own cabin and created a subdivision that's now called Whispering Pines. It was one of the areas evacuated because of the fire.
“It’s dry, and they’re trying to fight it, but Mother Nature is what we need," said Williams. "That’s who we need help with."
Beaver residents have been dealing with drought in the community the whole year, but they didn’t expect it to catch up to them like this.
“It’s just devastation," added Williams. "It’s hard to realize until it is over what it’s really done."
From the hilltops in Beaver, to a farmer's backyard, all the men could do was watch and pray Mother Nature is on their side.
“You can replace all that stuff," said Brown. "Nobody’s dead, nobody’s hurt so far. That’s good."
