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Reservoir in Layton was key in fighting Snoqualmie Fire by helicopter

Posted at 10:35 PM, Sep 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-04 12:19:58-04

LAYTON, Utah — All evacuation orders in the area near the Snoqualmie Fire were lifted Tuesday night.

Karra Porter, who has lived in the area for 10 years, said watching the flames come hundreds of yards away from her house was a frightening experience she’s never had before.

“When you’re driving down the street and you look over you just see a big ring of orange, you know what that means,” she said.

Evacuating comes with its own type of fear as Porter watched helicopter after helicopter drop water on “her mountain.”

“I was really worried, but it came through,” she said. “The firefighters were awesome.”

Kim Osborn with the U.S. Forest Service said that instead of calling in fire retardant, they dumped thousands of gallons of water on the fire — collected by helicopter from nearby Hobbs Reservoir. They also didn’t want to drop the fire retardant near the water.

Meanwhile, down at the reservoir, families gathered around to watch as one of the large helicopters pulled water out, carrying around 2,000 gallons up the mountainside.

Osborn said they had three helicopters flying out there.

Looking at the soaked, charred remains on the mountain, Porter said she was so impressed with how firefighters handled this, and so grateful her home is still standing.

“I’m relieved that my house is good,” said Porter. “It’s going to smell like smoke for a long time, but you just want to be home.”