| Wildfires Rage in Utah |
Tuesday, July 2, 2002 |
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Utah's worst fire season in decades is living up to its reputation as fires in the Uinta Mountains, on the Wasatch Front and in eastern Utah continue to burn out of control. In Dutch John, near Flaming Gorge Dam, and in the mountains above Springville, firefighters seem to be gaining the upper hand over portions of blazes that were threatening communities and summer homes. But the East Fork fire, in the northwest corner of the Uintas about 35 miles south of Evanston, Wyo., has prompted officials to evacuate another popular cabin community and to close a large swath of the Uinta Mountains. The human-caused fire, which broke out Friday near the East Fork of the Bear River Boy Scout Camp, is moving steadily toward the Meeks Cabin area, which contains several dozen summer homes and a few year-round residences. Having more than doubled in size on Monday to 12,500 acres, the fire has forest rangers and the Summit County Sheriff's Office calling for Meeks Cabin residents to begin evacuating. "At its current rate, the fire could be at Meeks Cabin in three to four days," said Steve Ryberg, a Wasatch-Cache National Forest district ranger. To reduce fire danger and to keep outdoor enthusiasts out of harm's way, forest officials banned the public from most of the North Slope of the Uintas. The closure, from state Road 150 to the Ashley National Forest boundary, comes as hundreds of people were planning to travel to the North Slope for the July Fourth holiday weekend. "There are better places to go than this right now," said Ryberg. Meanwhile, in Springville, five 20-person crews were expected to arrive today to battle a 3,000-acre blaze that started after someone shot a power line insulator Sunday evening. The line fell to the ground, arched and ignited a grass fire that quickly spread to brush. By Monday, the fire forced a temporary evacuation of about 40 homes in north Springville and was sending enormous amounts of smoke east into Heber Valley. Though crews have been able to establish defensive lines and back burns to protect homes, they are hampered by a lack of firefighting resources, which are scarce as a result of the hundreds of fires burning around the West and South. In Dutch John, crews built lines around the town and the nearby Mustang Ridge, which remain evacuated but are no longer threatened. The 13,340-acre fire, however, remains out of control. At the East Fork fire, crews assisted by three water-drop helicopters and a fire-retardant air tanker have been able to build protective lines for Christmas Meadows and Manor Lands, two summer-home and camping communities that were threatened during the weekend and were evacuated. "That's looking good over there," said firefighting coordinator Steve Nemore, pointing toward the ridges between the Scout camp and Christmas Meadows. The East Fork fire reportedly broke out near the 400-acre Scout camp on Friday afternoon, apparently as the result of an errant campfire. Boy Scout leaders quickly evacuated an estimated 300 Scouts from the camp. Most of them left behind their gear as well as their lunches. Open jugs of milk and partially eaten sandwiches and apples still sat on picnic tables Monday. On Monday, a pair of Scout leaders who were present during the evacuation Friday returned to videotape the abandoned equipment. They declined to be interviewed. Though winds were relatively calm Monday, the fire was progressing steadily to the northeast, sending thousands of feet into the sky embers that caused "spotting," or new fires outside the main burn. "We're not sending anyone in front of that fire. It's just too dangerous," said Wasatch-Cache Forest Supervisor Tom Tidwell. One crew on Monday tried to attack a forward flank of the fire but was repelled. "It was a valiant effort. We gave it a shot," said Nemore. The spotting phenomenon, which helped the fire to more than double in size on Monday, also was hampering crews' efforts to douse the fire in and around the Boy Scout camp, which so far has lost only a handful of outbuildings. In southern Utah, firefighters have contained the 65,000-acre Sanford Fire, about 20 miles northeast of Panguitch. But they are far from controlling the Black Canyon fire, which has burned about 2,500 acres, and the Rattle Complex fire, which has consumed about 54,000 acres. Both fires are burning in the Book Cliffs about 20 miles northeast of Green River. And in Price Canyon, about 12 miles northwest of Price, crews had a 1,000-acre fire about 15 percent contained. To date, wildfires have consumed about 153,000 acres in Utah, putting the Beehive State third behind Arizona and Colorado, where blazes have burned 467,000 acres and 235,000 acres, respectively. |