ENOCH CITY – A backyard fire threatening several homes in a residential area in Enoch City was knocked down by fire crews with some help from homeowners manning hoses.
Authorities were busy Monday afternoon fighting the fire which began in the North Enoch Road area.
Cedar City fire crews and Enoch Police were dispatched around 3 p.m. to the fire that started in one backyard before burning an adjoining fence and jumping to another homeowner’s property.
The fire threatened several homes in the immediate area before crews were able to get it under control.
The property where the fire began had several piles of dried grass that authorities are pointing to as the source of the flames.
Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames said when he arrived he saw a lot of grass in the backyard and believed then it was possibly the cause of the fire.
“There is so much grass back there, so much grass,” Ames said. “There’s piles of dried grass everywhere.”
Cedar City Fire Chief Mike Phillips later confirmed Ames’ theory.
“It was spontaneous combustion,” Phillips said. “There were some piles of grass that dried out, got hot and caught fire.”
The fire started in the middle of the yard on the left side near the fence. It spread east and west before jumping to the neighboring property on the north where it burned just a small spot before crews and neighbors were able to stop it, Ames said.
There was no major damage to the neighbor’s yard. However, the fire destroyed the fence between the two properties. Phillips estimated damages around $2,000.
Several neighbors assisted in putting out the fire. They also loaned their hoses and helped with wetting down the yard, home and surrounding properties so the fire did not spread any further.
No injuries were reported.
The homeowners refused comment and asked the media to leave the scene.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews | @tracie_sullivan
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News
Cedar City Fire Crews work to put out and contain fire that threatened several homes, Enoch City, Utah, June 6, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George/Cedar City News