Strong winds wreak havoc in Utah County

PLEASANT GROVE — High winds caused damage and chaos in Utah County on Monday, including a fire that sparked in Pleasant Grove.

According to Pleasant Grove police, those winds caused a power line to come down near 1100 N. Murdock Drive. A subsequent fire burned nearly an acre, police said, and came very close to several homes.

Jake and Katie Cleverley’s home backs up to the Murdock Canal Trail where the fire started.

“I was sitting at my desk,” Jake Cleverley told KSL TV, “and our daughter yelled, there’s a fire in the backyard.”

The Cleverleys rushed outside and grabbed a hose to try and keep the flames from spreading. They also rushed to save their chickens from their backyard coop.

Jake Cleverley said he “was just running around frantically” with the garden hose “trying to get the flames where they were blowing into the backyard.”

He added, “I don’t think we would have had another minute if we hesitated.”

Ultimately, the fire was extinguished without damaging any homes. But Katie Cleverley said it was a terrifying situation.

“It was just super scary to see the flames touching that treetop, like right up there,” she said.

The wind wreaked havoc in other places across Utah County. A large tree fell in a neighborhood in Orem, shown in a photo taken by KSL viewer Jim Huish.

A KSL photographer also captured downed limbs in American Fork and Highland.

“There’s random stuff in my backyard,” said Jessica Peterson, who lives near Heritage Park in Highland, “and we found a lot of our stuff at the park down the street.”

KSL also received reports of patio furniture sent flying, power lines left dangling over roads, and some people left without power.

Pleasant Grove is celebrating Strawberry Days right now. The city was scheduled to have a children’s parade Monday evening, but it was canceled due to the high winds.