On April 23, 2024, in the early windless afternoon, a man was burning weeds and trash in the creek bottom behind his home west of Henrieville. He had a large area cleared as a defensible space and was prepared with a hose. The wind picked up, blowing the fire toward the north, then to the northwest, calmed down, and then gusted toward the northeast. It quickly spread to the nearby cottonwoods, whose burning embers carried the fire to neighboring lots. The burning leaves landed on a camp trailer, igniting the roof and gutting the interior.
The fire created large burning embers traveling through the air to the northwest, starting an area with large five-foot to seven-foot sagebrush afire. Along with high winds, the sagebrush created a fire that produced 60-foot flames burning toward two homes. Thirty-foot flames were also shooting out the tops of the cottonwoods, whose exteriors were intact but acted like chimneys.
Fire Chief Ron Harris warns about the potential hazards of the thick rabbit brush growing along the fence lines. In this instance, the rabbit brush and tall sagebrush provided extra fuel for the blaze, traveling northeast toward the Swinger residence.
Retired Fire Chief Norm Davis, a seasoned veteran, was quickly on site fighting the blaze with a garden hose until further help arrived. His experience and quick thinking were crucial in those initial moments. The blaze was quickly approaching the Swingers’ propane tank. Meanwhile, Ben Coleman, the Swingers’ son, fought the fire with a shovel to keep it from his parents’ home.
Local volunteer fire departments were paged at 2:16 p.m. Swiftly answering the call were Henrieville’s Fire Department who arrived with engine and brush trucks and three firefighters; Tropic’s Fire Department arrived with two engines, a brush truck, and a rescue truck with eight firefighters; Bryce Canyon City Fire Department had an engine, a brush truck, and two firefighters; Escalante Fire Department went with an engine, a response truck, and nine firefighters; Color Country Wildland Fire Department took eight personnel; Escalante EMTs were also on site, ready to treat any potential victims. Their coordinated efforts were instrumental in containing the fire and preventing further damage.
In addition to the dozens of volunteers who left their jobs to assist, State Lands and Forestry County Fire Warden Josh Soper and Fire Investigator Spencer Rollo were on site. Three Garfield County Sheriff Deputies and one Utah Highway Patrol trooper also responded to the scene to help with potential evacuations, scene security and investigation.
When neighbor Annie Steed saw the towering flames, she awoke the Swingers from their afternoon nap. Preppers by nature, Laura and Jerry grabbed Jerry’s oxygen and the emergency bag by their bed and climbed into their truck, which is always fully stocked for an evacuation, a testament to their preparedness. In the northwest corner of the Swinger lot was an L-shaped woodpile of 12 cords of pitchy pine and two tons of coal with a storage shed in the corner holding the Swingers’ tillers, mower, generators, gardening implements, and 10 bags of soil amendments.
Up to that point, the fire had burned three acres, two travel trailers and scorched the rear of a larger fifth wheel travel trailer on one property. The wood pile presented a new challenge: so much fuel. A tractor with a bucket was brought in to pull the piles apart, gaining access to the bonfire within the mass. Meanwhile, the shed was consumed along with all the gardening and utility implements inside.
With the breeze and abundant fuel, the danger was great. The wildfire was headed south to a large yellow-dried field just past the Swinger residence. Firefighters were dispersed along the creek and into lots adjacent to the flames, dousing trees and rabbit brush with water. Once it hit that field, it would become an inferno.
Then the wind changed away from the propane tank back toward the wash where firefighters were able to get it under control. Thanks to bystanders’ actions, the fire department, and the shift in wind direction, the fire was stopped just short of the Swinger residence. Trucks and firefighters returned to their stations at 7:30 p.m.
Ben Coleman tended the smoldering ex-woodpile through the night until 2:30 a.m., ensuring he’d quenched any lingering sparks and stopped the flare-ups.
– The Byway and Ron Harris
Feature image caption: Thirty-foot flames threaten two homes in a Henrieville fire on April 23, 2024. Courtesy of Annie Steed.
Related: Professionally Staffed by Volunteers.