Valley Fire 40% contained, Ogden firefighters still monitoring site of blaze
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- A tree torched by the Valley Fire that burned a swath of undeveloped land south of Valley Drive in Ogden, pictured Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. The photo was taken from the East Bench neighborhood that was evacuated due to the fire.
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- The Valley Fire, pictured Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. The photo was taken from the East Bench neighborhood that was evacuated due to the fire.
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- Firefighters combat the Valley Fire on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. The photo was taken from the East Bench neighborhood in Ogden that was evacuated due to the fire.
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- The Valley Fire, pictured Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. The photo was taken from the East Bench neighborhood that was evacuated due to the fire.
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- The Valley Fire had torched 9 acres in an area south of Valley Road in Ogden, near the Rainbow Trail trailhead, a fire official said Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. The ridge of the mountain shown here, pictured Wednesday, remains charred due to the fire.
OGDEN — The Valley Fire flared up late Tuesday night and firefighters will keep an eye on it for the next two to three days to be ready in the event of a repeat, Mike Slater, deputy chief in the Ogden Fire Department, said Wednesday.
“There’s still embers so we’re going to keep an eye on it,” he said. The cause is still under investigation.
The fire had been 40% contained as of midday Wednesday, Slater said, and firefighters were still on the mountainous area off the south side of Valley Drive — the inspiration for the name of the fire — looking for hot spots. It had torched about 9 acres of undeveloped land, Slater said, but no homes or other structures were damaged.
The fire started shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday and was focused on the hilly area south of the Rainbow Trail trailhead. The blaze charred the mountaintop visible from the parking lot of Rainbow Gardens, the gift shop adjacent to the trailhead.
“Scary thing to have a fire so close to your building,” Jenny Francl, one of the Rainbow Gardens owners, said Wednesday morning as she surveyed the damage.
The blaze spread very fast, she said, and at times huge flames seemingly covered the mountainous area south of her restaurant. The backside of the mountain was also torched, she said.
Initially, 25 homes just south of the blaze on Ogden’s East Bench were evacuated, but the residents were allowed to return around 9 p.m. Tuesday. The blaze flared back up later Tuesday, though, and another 10 homes were evacuated, Slater said. Officials were debating Wednesday when to allow the residents of those homes to return.
“Pretty scary night,” Francl said. Though inside the Ogden city limits and close to a residential area, the blaze was focused in an undeveloped area that she said has been a draw to the homeless.
Fire departments across Weber County helped battle the blaze and three helicopters, managed by federal authorities, also doused the fire from above with water. “They were just dumping huge amounts of water over and over. We were relieved to see them” Francl said.
Slater thanked the public for the outpouring of support to the firefighters who battled the blaze. None sustained injury, he said, but they are tired.
