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The Machine Gun Fire — which destroyed three Herriman homes last week, forced massive evacuations and took fire crews six days to contain — may top $5 million for equipment and staff costs.
But the Federal Emergency Management Agency may not be footing 75 percent of the bill as suggested by Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Gov. Gary Herbert.
Because the blaze started during machine gun training at Camp Williams on Sept. 19, FEMA on Monday asked Utah fire authorities to determine an official cause of the fire and whether negligence occurred.
"When [a fire is] human-caused we do have to look at potential responsibility, potential negligence and potential duplications of benefits," FEMA spokesman Derek Jensen said.
That puts any financial reimbursements to the Unified Fire Authority, the Unified Police Department and others that responded to the blaze on hold, according to Jason Curry, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
"Right now we're at a bit of a fork in the road," he said.
The state requested a fire-management assistance grant through FEMA the night the fire started. If the fire is ruled accidental, state and local fire agencies would send a bill to FEMA to request the 75 percent reimbursement.
If it is determined the Utah National Guard was negligent, the state would typically pursue reimbursement through the negligent party or insurance, Jensen said.
The state Fire Marshal's Office or another qualified agency is expected to determine if there was negligence.
Utah's National Guard commander, Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, has said a miscommunication allowed a live-fire training session to continue during a red-flag warning with winds blowing up to 40 mph, which is against camp policy.
He took responsibility for the blaze last week, saying a "systemic failure" led to the miscommunication and those leading a live-fire machine gun exercise should have known it was a red-flag day.
The UFA, UPD, and some other agencies were still tallying their firefighting costs Monday, Curry said.
At least a dozen agencies, including Box Elder County, Syracuse, Lehi and Cache County, responded to the fire. Keith Bevan of the UFA urban search and rescue team, said meetings are being held this week to determine agencies' costs.
Definitive numbers won't be available for about a month, Curry said.
The ballpark figure of $5 million is based on the cost of using more than half a dozen military and nonmilitary planes and helicopters to make water and retardant drops.
It also accounts for the amount of time logged by up to 250 fire personnel from throughout northern Utah, another 140 wildland firefighters and up to 100 police officers who helped administer and manage evacuations and escorts.
"Any time there are structures involved and evacuations involved, it's going to cost more," Curry said.
The 4,326-acre fire forced the evacuation of more than 1,650 homes and 5,000 people. Schools in the area also closed for a day.
Comparatively, last year's Mill Flat Fire, in the southern Utah town of New Harmony, cost more than $6.4 million to fight, Curry said.
That blaze also destroyed three homes, damaged eight others and forced a large residential evacuation. It burned about 12,600 acres, nearly three times the amount of the Machine Gun Fire.
UFA Captain Brad Taylor said some fire crews were still near Herriman on Monday watching for possible flare-ups and hot spots. —
Machine Gun Fire
The 4,326-acre fire started Sept. 19 on Camp Williams during a live-fire machine gun training. It forced the evacuation of more than 1,650 homes and 5,000 people.