FRUIT HEIGHTS — Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Monday night after darkness fell on a windblown wildfire spreading across the mountainside above Fruit Heights and in Adams Canyon.
The Francis Fire — initially estimated at 50 acres — had grown to an estimated 200 to 250 acres and was zero percent contained by Monday night, according to Jess Clark, a public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service.
The fire was the third major wildfire to prompt evacuations in Davis County in less than a month. It comes just weeks after the Gun Range Fire forced the evacuation of more than 400 homes in the middle of the night and burned three houses in Bountiful the morning of Aug. 30. Another wildfire in the foothills east of Layton the first week of September led to mandatory evacuations for an estimated 40 to 50 homes.
Mandatory evacuations were announced just before 5 p.m. for the Oakmont Lane area, for the area along 1800 East near the intersection of Eastoaks Drive, and for the Mountain Road area from 200 North to the gun range and to 650 North, the Davis County Sheriff’s Office said.
That was about two hours after Utah fire officials had reported that the flames were “growing rapidly” and evacuations had been ordered for about 20 homes in Layton’s Adams Canyon, shortly after issuing a correction and saying no evacuations were in place with the exception of the canyon’s trails.
Elizabeth Solis of the Davis County Sheriff’s Office said the orders to evacuate changed as the fire did. It was unknown how many homes were affected. By Monday evening, Solis said no houses had burned.
“With the winds and everything and the fire moving, we want to make sure that people’s safety is a priority,” Solis said.
Within three hours of the fire’s start, Layton residents who had voluntarily evacuated were told they could return home, but that they should remain vigilant and stay out of the canyon. By 10 p.m., all mandatory evacuations had been lifted.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known, the sheriff’s office said. Utah fire officials asked on Twitter that anyone with photos of the Francis Fire when it was “a small puff of smoke” submit the photos for investigators to use.
In the early stages of the fire, the sheriff’s office said search and rescue crews responded to Adams Canyon and the areas surrounding Davis County Animal Care and Control, 1422 E. 600 North in Fruit Heights. Search and rescue crews also went up Farmington Canyon to close three trails — Bair Canyon Trail, Ward Canyon Trail, and Adams Canyon Trail — and assist hikers and campers, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kim Osborn said.
Helicopters used water from the surrounding Weber Water Basin reservoirs. As of Monday evening, there were 17 structure and wildland fire engines, three squads, four helicopters, two air tankers, one lead plane and one air attack on scene, according to Utah Fire Info. Five crews were ordered and two were en route.
Firefighters had come from as far as Boise, Idaho, Clark said.
The Northern Utah Interagency Fire Center planned to send in a Type 3 team Tuesday morning. In the meantime, Osborn said, some crews would likely be working through the night.
The fire, burning in grass and oak brush, had grown quickly throughout the day Monday in part because of strong winds, Clark said. But with a cold front expected to hit about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, officials anticipated a shift in the wind and a change in the fire’s behavior — for better or for worse.
“What it will do is create some uncertainty,” Clark said. “The weather could be in our favor, or it could create havoc. You never know.”
The fire disrupted some commutes Monday, as drivers were asked to avoid U.S. 89 between Fruit Heights and Layton. The blaze also impacted bus routes north of 200 North and east of U.S. 89, according to the sheriff’s office, and buses from Morgan and East Layton elementary schools.