FARMINGTON, Utah (ABC4) – Activity at Lagoon Amusement Park during the week looked a bit like it was then almost 60 years ago, and that’s not a good thing .
On Sunday morning, two fires broke out near the central plaza fountain of Davis County Amusement Park, taking the Carousel Candy Shop and Scamper, the kids’ bumper car ride, with them as total losses.
The blaze was reminiscent of the 1953 blaze that completely destroyed the Midway area of ​​the park, virtually the same part of the land, but fire departments from Farmington, South Davis Metro, Kaysville, Layton and Hill Air Force Base have was able to mitigate the flames to a much smaller loss on Sunday.
The cause of the fire in the park, closed for the winter season, is still under investigation.
While the colorful and whimsical candy store has been reduced to smoldering rubble, park officials are grateful that some of the store’s most valuable items (no, not the saltwater taffy or the assortment of fudge varieties ) have been preserved and kept away from affected fire.
“We had several antique carousel figures on display in the candy store and were able to retrieve them before the fire rekindled later that evening,†Lagoon spokesperson Adam Leishman told ABC4.com, noting that the park offers three rides at the National Historic Site. Register as well as many other attractions and buildings of historical significance. “We are working hard to preserve these historic elements for future generations to enjoy, and we are delighted that the figures in the carousel have not suffered any damage.”
A photograph of a pair of Farmington Fire Department firefighters valiantly running one of the horses in the carousel of the fire damaged building served as a fun visual of an otherwise unfortunate ordeal.
As Leishman expresses the park’s relief for saving the horses, he describes a bit of melancholy for the loss of the bumper car attraction, which had been in its place in Lagoon since the 1960s. When the first fire was extinguished inside the candy store, a second flame rekindled in the old building, spreading much faster and engulfing the store and the adjacent bumper car ride.
“The park is very sad to lose the children’s bumper cars,†he says. “Scamper was one of the park’s many children’s attractions that generations have enjoyed.â€
Bulgy the Whale, another popular attraction for smaller and younger guests, was also damaged in severe windstorms that hit Davis County in September 2020.
“Fortunately, we were able to restore Bulgy for our reopening in 2021,†Leishman notes.
While it’s still very early in the process of figuring out how to reuse the damaged area, Leishman says park management hopes everything will be “buttoned up” before the park’s planned reopening in the spring.
After all, it has already been done after a fire in Lagoon, he says.
“The park opened on time in 1954 and Lagoon will do the same in 2022.”
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