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 supervising 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 the assignment for fire watch after the initial fire in the morning. “The security officer checked one hour before and had no observation then one to one and a half hours later the fire was reported.”

The fire itself exhibited unusual behavior, he said. “There were multiple roofing layers and materials. With those rebuilds they used to use roofing tar and once that starts burning it smolders and smolders and can reignite.”

An investigation into the fire is underway. “We don’t expect foul play,” said Smith. “We should have the final deposition by the end of the day (Monday). It’s complicated the way it played out. The investigation will help us be able to see what truly happened based on what our suspicions are.”

Damages are estimated to be between $300,000 to $400,000, said Smith. “It could be more because the historical part puts it in a different category. The structure is a total loss but we were trying to save the adjoining structures and we were successful in achieving that.”

“Scamper was built in 1977,” said Lagoon Media Relations Spokesman Adam Leishman. “Many generations had used it. There’s nothing left – the structure is no longer standing.”

This isn’t the first fire at Lagoon, he said. “There was one in 1953 that was devastating but it was rebuilt. We have every intention of rebuilding. We’re not sure yet what that will be but we’ll get that buttoned up before we open in the spring of 2022.”