Leila Schey saw a smoky, ginger sky burgeoning above Interstate 80 just after 1 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2021, and it seemed to be creeping toward her home in Summit Park.
Schey and her partner had moved to the Park City area from Denver three years earlier, and they previously lived in London. The couple knew their neighborhood was at a greater risk for wildfires, but the reality of what that meant for them — and many other homeowners in the area — didn’t really sink in until the Parleys Canyon Fire.
After frantically packing up her cats and their pet supplies, Schey quickly grabbed a few sentimental items and put faith in her fireproof safe. She and her partner loaded themselves into cars and left their home before the orders were given to evacuate Summit Park, and later, Pinebrook. It took about a week before the couple returned, grateful to see everything intact.
“I’ve never felt so relieved to see rain,” she said. Thunderstorms that week helped firefighters contain the blaze.
The burn scar from the fire that stretched over Lambs Canyons and torched 541 acres is hard to miss from I-80. Dead, charred trees still stand where Park City Fire District crews and other agencies worked to put out the blaze.
Schey, and a group of about 20 other people, were able to hike to the site on Thursday as part of an event hosted by the Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter in partnership with Brad Washa, who became an assistant professor of wildland fire science at Utah State University after a 33-year career in federal wildland fire management. Washa, a Pinebrook resident, also assisted with incident management on the Parleys Canyon Fire.
Swaner EcoCenter collaborated with property owners in the area to gain access to the land for the hike, which was described as strenuous due to its rugged terrain. But that didn’t stop a wide range of community members from participating. An older couple from Pinebrook said they had always been curious about how the land had been impacted. A participant named Rachel, who usually hikes with a friend, had always been curious about the fire. Other Summit County residents thought it would be a unique way to get some exercise.
The group had participated in a “Life after Wildlife” seminar hosted by Washa the evening before, and the hiking portion was intended to culminate his lessons about preparedness, response and management. It also tied into the new “Walks, Talks and Workshops” program Swaner EcoCenter is starting up to help people become more engaged with nature.
Washa led the group up a steep hill with thick underbrush as the traffic from the highway droned in the background. Burnt bark still clings to the trees. There was too much moisture in them to be burned down completely in that fire, Washa explained. Orange and yellow leaves peak out among green Gambel oak shrubs, growing in an area that was once was burned largely black.
Every so often, he would stop and talk about how crews fought the fire for four days. They had to consider factors such as nearby homes and the summer drought. Firefighters also had to be creative. They converted Utah Department of Transportation salters into water tenders and used the wildlife crossing bridge to help the chopper fill up near Mountain Dell Dam, a neat hack on rules against helicopters crossing interstates with buckets full.
A small creek babbled about a quarter-mile from where the group started. Washa said he had at first been concerned about soil erosion and whether there would be new growth in the year after the fire. He’s pleased to see aspen trees growing two years later without a lot of cheatgrass. A helicopter had previously seeded the area by plane, but no one seemed sure about what was used.
“You think the hilltop is devastated and it’s really not,” he said, noting the resilient landscape. “The Parleys Canyon Fire wasn’t total death and destruction out here.”
Rhea Cone, the conservation director at Swaner EcoCenter, popped down every once in a while to check plants for seeds, slipping a few into her pocket. She said she was happy to see there weren’t a lot of invasive species growing in the area.
The last stretch of the half-mile hike was the most difficult. Steep slope and low, thorny branches encroached on the makeshift pathway, yet the entire group persevered.
It was clear from that vantage how lucky Summit Park was. Several structures peaked out from the mountains. If the car with the faulty catalytic converter had ignited a few hundred yards east, closer to the exit sign, the fire it cause might have been devastating.
Schey hikes the other side of the ridge about once a week, but she’d never been to the Parleys Canyon Fire burn scar. It felt strangely emotional being here, she said on the way down.
The couple is now taking steps to harden their home. It’s helped ease their minds, as they plan to continue living in an area with heightened wildfire risk.