December 24, 2021 | Vol. 2 Iss. 52
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LAGOON CANDY SHOP AND BUMPER CAR RIDE DESTROYED IN FIRE
By Becky Ginos becky.g@davisjournal.com FARMINGTON—For more than 40 years kids have enjoyed bumping into each other on Scamper, a popular ride at Lagoon. In a matter of hours last Saturday it burned to the ground along with the Carousel Candy Shop. “Saturday morning a zoo employee was walking through the park and smelled something burning,” said Farmington Fire Chief Guido Smith. “They saw smoke and flames coming from the candy store attached to the mini bumper ride so they called 911.” Crews arrived in minutes and found a working fire on the roof of the building, he said. “It was extinguished quickly. We had the assistance of the Kaysville Fire Department, South Davis Metro Fire, Layton Fire and Hill Air Force Base.” It took about two hours to knock it down, Smith said. “Then we did the overhaul work. It looked like the probable cause was a light fixture that might have malfunctioned. We estimated over $100,000 in damages at that time. There were some high value historical items.” Smith said a fire watch was put into place. “In those historical structures there are a lot of remodels and overbuilds and roofs on top of roofs where there is the potential for a fire to rekindle.” At 9:20 that evening dispatch received multiple calls from drivers who said they could see flames and smoke coming from Lagoon, he said. “Within five minutes crews were on scene and found a heavy fire at the bumper ride and side structure.” A defensive operation was applied, said Smith. “It was an overbuild fire so it
took a long time to extinguish. We had to bring in heavy equipment to pull down the structure because of the hard areas to reach.” Mutual aid was there for about five hours, he said. “Farmington was on the scene for 14 hours investigating and super-
vising the demolition. One firefighter was injured and taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was later released. No other injuries were reported.” Smith said Lagoon security was put on Please see FIRE: pg. 8
FLAMES SHOOT FROM THE CAROUSEL CANDY SHOP at Lagoon on Saturday. The fire was extinguished in the morning but reignited that evening.
Photo courtesy of the Farmington Fire Department