Families Return Home As Knolls Fire Evacuations Lifted

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah – Thousands of evacuees forced to flee their homes during a wildfire in Saratoga Springs on Sunday afternoon returned home Monday, showing a combination of shock and relief.

Some came home to find destroyed backyard fences and melted siding as many told others told KSL they felt very lucky their homes were still standing.

“Very lucky, very blessed,” said Louis Bott, who watched the fire in real-time through a security camera he was able to pull up on his phone. “What I was able to catch on my security camera, I was really worried. We were able to watch it in real-time. Anxiety yeah, we were worried. It traveled fast and high.”

Michelle and Robert Clark, who also live in the Lake Mountain Estates in the south part of town, came home to find a fence torched and the back siding on their home melted.

“We were shocked. We can’t believe they were able to save the houses up here,” Michelle Clark told KSL. “We still have the house and everything in it.”

The Jenson family had to evacuate so quickly that they came home to find their half-eaten Sunday steak dinner still set up on the kitchen table.

“We were eating dinner and all of a sudden they said get out,” said Scott Jenson. “No time. Pack the bags and we were out of here.”

This shows you how quickly people had to evacuate in #saratogasprings fire .. the Jenson family in the middle of dinner when they had to scramble. No time to clean up #KnollsFire @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/yJsnrKLL9v

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) June 29, 2020

Evacuation orders were lifted Monday, but fire officials told residents to be prepared to leave again, as the fire had not been extinguished.