OGDEN -- Safety officials have their suspicions about the cause of a fast-moving Sunday afternoon grass fire over the old Weber County landfill.
"It's the fifth fire in a week," said Ogden City Fire Battalion Chief Corey Barton. "They've all been in secluded areas, concentrated around the Ogden River Parkway."
"I'd like to figure out why we've had so many fires down here lately," said Ogden City Duty Lt. Shawn Hamblin.
"We'll definitely look into this, and if it's either reckless or intentional, we'll see what we can do with these people."
The fire, which began at the south end of D Avenue at 3:20 p.m., spread quickly, covering 17 acres all the way down to A Avenue before it was extinguished.
Barton said one of the biggest problems was crosswinds shifting on firefighters throughout their efforts.
One house and several buildings had to be evacuated during the battle with the blaze, he said.
At one point, a brush truck also was at risk.
"We had to cut the lines and get it out of there," Barton said.
Moving their Sunday afternoon get-together out near the street, the Petino family said they watched as firefighters at the end of B Avenue had to pull a woman out of her home who did not wish to be moved out.
They also laughed about a woman who drove over one of the firefighters' hoses and got a lecture from a safety official.
The extended family members also shook their heads as they noted how quickly the blaze spread through dry grass on the county property.
"The city goes around here and complains about all the dry grass in people's yards, and then this is what our county does," said Freddy Petino, complaining about all the dry grass on the property that burned. Petino lives on the 2400 West block of B Avenue.
Barton used the fire incident to remind residents about a new city ordinance that requires all fireworks to be out by 11 p.m.
Lighting fireworks is allowed only between the hours of 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. according to the ordinance, he said.
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