The Insider

Popular Categories

Grover Fire Serves as Wake-Up Call

Mother's Day Weekend Fire Contained to Nine acres


A firefighting helicopter unloads a water bucket on May 6, 2022, on a fire in the Miner’s Mountain Road community in Grover. The fire was started by a local resident burning brush and caused local evacuations. Photo courtesy Judith Hopkins.

GROVER – The afternoon of Friday May 6, 2022, the residents of the small community on Miners Mountain Road in Grover, Utah experienced the consequences of the extreme drought that is ravaging the southwest. The morning began with a light wind but around 10 o’clock the Fordhams, who live at the east end of Miners Mountain Road noticed a concerning amount of smoke rising from the trees about ½ a mile to the east.

Being aware of the fire danger we are experiencing, emergency phone calls were made to 911, the Sheriff’s Department and local residents on Miners Mountain Road. Neighbors immediately jumped into their vehicles to assess where the danger was coming from. The Sheriff’s Department and the local volunteer fire department in Teasdale responded to Chad Brian’s property just off Highway 12. He was burning piles of birch he had removed from Carcass Creek. At that time apparently the assessment was made that the situation was under control. Throughout the day the winds continued to increase. By afternoon we were experiencing winds from the southwest gusting to approximately 20 mph.

At around 4:15 pm neighbors noticed an increase in the smoke with the appearance of a wall of flames at least 100 feet in the air which resulted in another 911 call. Within a matter of minutes, it became apparent that the fire was out of control. Residents frantically loaded vehicles with precious belongings. They responded immediately to the orders to evacuate. With the help of neighbors and friends, I was able to load Watanika’s alpacas and llamas onto a trailer, corral seven cats, and transport them to safety.
Simultaneously fire trucks from the local volunteer fire departments and Forest Service personnel poured down Miners Mountain Road to begin fighting the fire. It was a tough battle with swirling winds pushing the fire to the East endangering several homes. The appearance of a water-dropping helicopter brought cheers from the residents as it swooped its bucket into Robert Mulford’s pond, a short distance to the north, allowing it to rapidly dump its 150-gallon load of water on the expanding edges of the fire. It continued dumping water until it ran low on fuel. Firefighters said that it had made all the difference in gaining control over this fire and preventing any structural losses. Additional water to fight the fire was provided by the Grover Irrigation Company’s irrigation lines. The lines watering the fields on the Dietlein’s property were turned off to provide water to fight the fire.
At about 9 pm the firefighters felt they had enough control of the fire because of diminishing wind and the cool evening air that they lifted the evacuation order. They warned residents to leave their cars packed and to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Several of us spent a sleepless night watching the glow of fire and smoke that persisted throughout the night when the winds picked up again.

Saturday morning a caravan of firefighting equipment arrived from various governmental agencies and volunteer fire departments from as far as Ephraim and Sigurd. They spent the day “mopping up” treating the hotspots that remained. The residents felt a sense of hopeful optimism at the end of the day. With additional work that occurred Sunday morning by noon the 8.5 acres consumed by the fire was considered 100% contained. For several days since, Forest Service fire crews have patrolled the burn area putting out hot spots.

The fire fighters, both volunteer and professional are true heroes. They stopped the fire before it reached homes, there were no injuries, they patiently answered residents’ questions and calmed our fears.
There are several lessons to be learned from this difficult situation. Realization of the extreme fire danger in our surrounding forests is confirmed by Steve Lutz, County Fire Chief who stated, “In my 40 years of fire fighting I have never seen the conditions so dry. I watched a juniper catch fire and disappear in 30 seconds.” That is scary!

The reactions of the Miners Mountain Road residents responding to the danger with concern for their neighbors is admirable. Further, the response of local Grover residents who do not live on Miners Mountain Road was heartwarming. They just appeared offering help removing articles from people’s homes, a place for the alpacas and llamas to shelter, and a place for evacuees to sleep while providing food and support. The Days Inn in Torrey, which has a “no animal policy” set that aside, to allow Mary McConnell, who had evacuated with her dogs, to spend the night together in a room at the motel. We are so grateful in our community to all those who stepped up and responded to help their neighbors.

Other articles that will address fire safety for residents in Wayne County are planned for future issues of The Insider. The warning from this fire is that the fire danger we are experiencing from the extreme drought should make all of us reconsider the burning of any kind of materials. There is a requirement in Wayne County that you must obtain a fire permit to do a burn. Please do not light a fire unless you have a permit and a source of water to put it out if it should get out of control. Consider taking your refuse to the dump in Loa.

These are dangerous times for all of our communities. Let’s keep each other safe!