Local and state officials used a press conference at Washington Terrace City Hall Monday afternoon to update the public on the state of the fire.

Karl Hunt, public affairs officer with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said that what has been dubbed the Adams Fire had burned 75 acres as of 3 p.m. Monday.

“Crews are working to get an anchor point, starting to get a containment line,” he said. “We also have engines and other crews that are working structure protection around the structures that are currently under threat.”

Washington Terrace City Manager Tom Hanson said he was unsure of how many homes had been evacuated but it had been ordered from 5500 South south to the fire line and from Adams Avenue to 500 West.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

“That will remain in order for a couple of hours,” he said. “We’re going to wait and see how the fire progresses and at what time the order should be lifted.”

Hunt said the fire was first reported around 11:30 a.m. and that two injuries had been reported — one to a sheriff’s deputy and one to a private citizen. Weber County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Sean Endsley confirmed that the deputy received minor injuries and had been treated and released by the time the press conference had occurred. No further information was available on the other injury.

“The fire is currently under investigation,” Hunt said. “Once crews get that anchor point, they work to identify the source of origin and preserve that source of origin so an investigation team can come in and do a thorough investigation of the cause of this fire.”

He said that a cause and containment number are undetermined at this time.

Hanson said some damages had been reported.

Photo supplied, Washington Terrace City Manager Tom Hanson

There was some damage to a camp trailer — pretty significant damage it looks like,” he said. “And some minor damage to one of the homes at this point that we’ve been able to see.”

JC Araiza told the Standard-Examiner that he was doing rebar work in the area when he noticed the wildfire.

“We went to go check it out, and it was just like a whole field just burning up,” he said.

Hanson said that crews from the surrounding area — and well beyond it — deserve a huge thank you for their help.

“We had firefighters and companies from Box Elder County, Weber County, Davis County, a North Dakota fire response team that’s out here in this area — so we’re excited about that,” he said. “We appreciate their help. The Division of Natural Resources and Hill Air Force Base. Once they came on, it became a unified command. Together, they are working as a team to determine the best way to approach this fire.”

Hanson said he and crews took notice of one peculiar effort to fight the blaze.

“There were a lot of people trying to put out the fire with their garden hoses in the backyard,” he said. “It feels good as the person getting a little use of the hose, but effective — not at all. It’s amazing how fast those bushes came up adjacent to their yards, and it was pretty nerve-wracking for people. But we appreciate our residents and those around us being cooperative with evacuations and helping.”

He said he was cautiously optimistic that the worst has passed.

“It appears that the crew has things under control, but with fire, you can’t say, ‘done’ until you’re really done,” he said.

Standard-Examiner editor Ryan Comer contributed to this report.