An army of firefighters began to get the better of some of the huge fires that were burning throughout Utah Tuesday. Meanwhile, most of the state's residents were breathing a smoky haze.
Hot weather, lightning, low humidity, stiff winds, an exploding truck and suspected arson combined to scorch more than 75,000 acres from Juab County to Grand County. Also, firefighters dispatched from Moab are battling another blaze of more than 3,000 acres in Colorado.One of the biggest range fires in the country is the Railroad Fire, which began near Eureka, Juab County, as a simple brush fire. On Friday it surrounded a water tanker truck, which exploded and spread the flames.
Residents of Eureka were advised to leave home, and some did; The smaller town of Mammoth was evacuated twice, Friday and Saturday, and all are home now. Little Sahara Recreation Area also was closed at the height of the danger.
"It's still staying at 61,400 acres," Jerry Rohnert, the information officer on the fire incident management team, said Tuesday.
"It's 90 percent contained. Full containment is expected by 6 o'clock tonight, with control tomorrow evening by 6," added Rohnert, who is from the Bureau of Land Management in Boise.
Containment means that the firefighters have thrown a line around most of the blaze. Controlled means the lines are completely around the fire even though it's not yet extinguished.
At last count, 466 people were fighting the burn. "They're from all over," every level of government from city fire departments to prison volunteer crews to federal agencies. They come from Utah, California, Arizona, Idaho and Montana.
"They're running into some mountainous areas," he added. The steep, rocky terrain is too rugged even for helicopters to drop retardant, so hand crews are working into the area so they can put out the burning junipers and brush.
Four helicopters have been dropping fire retardant. Four big water trucks, water tenders, are refilling the 27 fire engines. In addition, four bulldozers are scraping fire lines through the underbrush.
Other fires include:
-- The West Mountain II fire in Utah County, which has consumed 8,829 acres. Containment is predicted for 6 p.m. Wednesday with full control the following afternoon, said Loyal Clark, spokeswoman for Uinta National Forest, Spanish Fork.
As crews construct fire lines, they also burn vegetation ahead of the main fire. When the big burn arrives, the blackened strip is expected to halt it.
"The heat will pose a challenge to firefighters," said Dale Jablonski, fire behavior analyst. So will the low moisture content the sagebrush, grasses and other vegetation, he said.
The fire on West Mountain began more than a week and a half ago and has burned several structures. But firefighters managed to save two radio towers on top of the mountain.
-- A blaze near Stockton, Tooele County, pegged at between 100 and 150 acres. "We didn't have any lightning in the area, so it's under investigation," said Julie Plantikow of the Interagency Fire Center in Salt Lake City.
Three 20-person crews were dispatched to the Stockton fire Tuesday morning. They happened to be nearby, at the Rush Fire, was recently controlled.
-- Another suspicious blaze of 2,400 acres in Beaver County about 50 miles west of Milford. It started Thursday afternoon. "We believe it's arson-caused," said Ann Stanworth of the BLM's Cedar City district office. "We're in pretty good shape now . . . We're looking at containment tonight."
At the height of the battle, 224 firefighters were engaged. "We're starting to reduce forces now. We'll have it back down to 100 (firefighters) tonight," she said. Steep ridges hindered their work, as did wind gusts that reached 50 mph Sunday. The wind was so severe that air operations were suspended.
-- The Wrigley and Black Ridge fires in Grand County and western Mesa County, Colorado, which are still not contained.
The Wrigley fire of 3,811 acres was 70 percent contained as of 7 p.m. Monday night, and full containment was predicted for Tuesday. About 220 crew members, assisted by four helicopters, are battling the Black Ridge fire. So far it has consumed 3,400 acres.
"I'm told the crews are making good progress," said Marian Swinney of Klamath National Forest, Calif. She was among crews from Colorado, California and Utah.