Guard commander takes responsibility for wildfire

Guard commander takes responsibility for wildfire

A U.S. Forest Service helicopter transports water to hot spots during the second day of a wildfire which forced evacuation of more than 1,600 homes Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, in Herriman, Utah. The blaze was started by live-fire exercises at Camp Williams, a Army National Guard base southwest of Salt Lake City.

HERRIMAN, Utah (AP) -- As smoke filled the sky from a wildfire started by live ammunition during a military exercise, Dustin Spangler and his neighbors saw no reason to wait any longer for help.

They organized a volunteer brigade to prepare for "the fire coming over the hill."

"We built a horseshoe-shaped fire barrier around a couple of neighbors' homes," said Spangler, a 38-year-old manager of business intelligence for Internet retailer Overstock.com. "We wet down the woods."

The actions may have saved Spangler's home, which suffered only smoke damage in the fire about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.

The commander of the Utah Army National Guard accepted responsibility Monday for the fast-moving wildfire that led to the evacuation of 1,600 homes, saying Guard officials erred when they allowed live-fire training despite high wind warnings.

Gen. Brian Tarbet said he was "deeply sorry" about what he called a "systematic failure" at Camp Williams. The fire destroyed three houses and damaged a fourth. It was 25 percent contained Monday.

"Our mission is to support our citizens, not to endanger them, and we failed in that yesterday," Tarbet said.

Tarbet said no one checked to see if the National Weather Service had posted a "red flag" high-wind warning before permitting the machine gun exercise to proceed in tinder-dry conditions. He also said guard commanders waited two hours to call outside fire agencies for help.

It was only the latest example of military training activities sparking large fires at Camp Williams and other facilities.

Utah National Guard officials say they can usually contain any flames, but local leaders questioned the decision to fire weapons at all.

"It's a regular occurrence with any type of training - small flare-ups we deal with," Lt. Col. Hank McIntire said Monday as the fire retreated to the interior of the camp, which, at 44 square miles, is nearly twice the size of Manhattan.

The flames were ignited Sunday by practice rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun. National Guard crews thought they had the blaze quickly contained, until overnight winds of more than 40 mph fanned the fire across more than 6 square miles.

"People are upset, and I don't blame them," Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said Monday. "They're getting chased out of their house in the middle of night."

The National Guard pitched in to fight the flames, deploying 120 soldiers, as well as seven bulldozers and three Black Hawk helicopters.

When the drill got under way, the National Guard said the fire hazard was moderate. There was little wind, temperatures were below 75 degrees and humidity was 13 percent, typical for Utah's dry climate.

"Our fire crews were on standby, responded and corralled the fire. They got it under control, but the winds came up, and the fire spread and got beyond what we could handle ourselves," McIntire said.

Fires caused by artillery shells or other weapons at military installations are not uncommon. In May 2007, a flare dropped from an F-16 on a training flight sparked a fire that burned 17,000 acres in New Jersey. Artillery practice sparked a huge wildfire in July 2009 outside Marseille, France.

At Camp Williams, a fire touched off by artillery burned 500 acres in September 2006 and forced the evacuation of about 50 homes. None were destroyed. A more recent fire burned 300 acres in July.

Residents and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon questioned the National Guard's decision to hold live-fire exercises in dry conditions.

"It can create some issues, and I know people are frustrated," Corroon said Monday.

Five tanker planes were in the air, dropping fire suppressant and trying to get as much of the fire under control before Tuesday, when winds were expected to increase.

Winder said he did not expect any more evacuations if firefighters kept the fire under control.

Herriman is a rural community on the southwest side of the Salt Lake Valley. To the south and west are mountains. To the north and west are the valley's suburbs, with a combined population of about a million.

Lt. Don Hutson of the Unified Police Department, the agency that oversees Salt Lake County, called the practice flare-up a "perfect storm" that kicked up violently with winds of 40 mph to 50 mph. "Literally, the fire was coming down into the backyards of many of these residents," he said.

Added Tarbet: "In our memory, we have not seen a fire move that quickly."

The fire has caused no major injuries, officials said, although two police officers were treated for smoke inhalation and a third for minor injuries after being hit by the vehicle of a driver trying to return home.