The Dugway LDS chapel was a silhouette against the golden wall of flames and smoke.

Crowds of people who came to fight the fire but ended up only wetting the church's roof stared at the image, talking about it like they'd talk about a movie."It's kind of frustrating when you go out and look - everyone's treating it like a novelty," said Karen Palmer, who fled the Tooele County wildfire with her five children Monday evening. She took her family photos, their dog and an enchilada casserole. They were taken in by friends at Dugway Proving Grounds.

Palmer was one of about 45 people chased out of their homes by the lightning-sparked Davis Knolls fire. The 30,000-acre blaze started Monday afternoon and was quickly labeled a Type 1 fire, the most serious designation for a wildfire.

Late Monday, volunteers and professional crews foiled encroaching flames and protected the church by setting backfires.

"No structures have been burned yet," said Knowlton.

The people of Skull Valley know the danger of fire. Last year, 900 acres burned on July 12. Two years ago on the third of July, flames crept up on Terra, burning Jim Gibson's home. Gibson, who has since moved to Dug-way, came to watch Monday's inferno.

"When I saw the smoke going up I envisioned my house going up in the fire," he said. "I guess there's a sense of relief knowing the fire can't get me now."

Palmer, who knows Gibson, said he didn't have fire insurance. Many of the people in Terra can't get fire insurance because of the danger, she said.

However, Palmer isn't as worried because she has insurance. She had just bought a new policy. While evacuating she stopped to pick up the mail and found her new policy in it.

Still, she was nervous. "I'm very worried, but I have children who need to know that everythingis OK," Palmer said. "If I fall to pieces they fall to pieces."

A second Tooele County fire was threatening the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation on Tuesday, said Kathy Jo Pollock of Salt Lake Fire Interagency. Firefighters used four air tankers and a helicopter to fight the human-caused blaze, dubbed the Goshute fire.

Four crews of 20 were brought to fight the flames that rushed through cheat grass and sagebrush.

Almost 500 people will likely be enlisted Tuesday to battle the Tooele County blazes, said Fire Agency Spokeswoman Sharon Knowl-ton.

Volatile weather could hamper arriving firefighters.

"We're expecting strong winds - that makes things tough when you're trying to contain a (wildfire)," said Knowlton.

Meanwhile in south-central Utah, crews hoped to contain Tuesday a 40,000-acre Sorenson fire burning close to Cove Fort and Ka-nosh Monday night.

"We've got people running all over the place,"said Bert Hart of Richfield interagency dispatch. "It's sort of chaotic now."

However, the lightning-caused Sorenson fire hasn't come close to threatening any towns or structures. But it did jump I-15 Sunday night. Hart said it only burned about a 10-acre area and was put out quickly.

The Eightmile fire burning near Scipio is now under control, said Richfield Interagency Fire spokeswoman Linda Jackson. The blaze charred about 4,000 acres after being ignited by lightning last week.

This year's wildfire season has been raging a bit ahead of schedule, Hart said. So far more than 325,000 acres have burned in the Eastern Great Basin - made up of Utah and southeastern Idaho - with most of the fires in Utah, said Pollock. Hart said more than 1,500 people were working on the west desert's numerous fires.

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He blamed the season's early start on this year's dryness combined with the wetness of the past few years, when grasses grew quickly.

Because of the high fire danger throughout the state, residents need to be cautious, said Hart.

"Everyone has to be extremely careful with all sources of fire, including their vehicles. Sometimes it's hard enough to battle Mother Nature, let alone getting humans helping."

Deseret News staff writer Jason Swensen contributed to this report.

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