From Antelope Island to sites near the Wyoming and Idaho borders, lightning strikes started a rash of small fires Sunday.
Several were easily contained. By Monday morning, the largest that remained out of control was a 1,000-acre grass fire on Antelope Island.
"Lightning started that one last night," said William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service regional office in Salt Lake City. Besides the lightning, the storm front brought welcome rain to the region, with 0.41 of an inch at Joe's Valley, Emery County; 0.11 of an inch in Holladay and 0.05 in Sandy.
"We're basically drying, though," Alder said. That means fire danger may increase. Temperatures should be in the 90s this week.
Three or four lightning strikes hit Antelope Island, said Kathy Jo Pollock, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Interagency Fire Center.
As a state fire engine and employees of Antelope Island State Park fought a small blaze on the island's northern end, they noticed flames on a knoll to the south. Rains helped extinguish the northern fire, and the crew headed south.
About 2 a.m., winds whipped the blaze on the southern end, and the fire "went from 10 acres to about 110," she said. No structures were threatened.
Winds blew all night, and by Monday morning, the blaze was pegged at 1,000 acres.
Crews were spreading retardant foam around a road in the fire's vicinity to keep it from leaping across the road. They planned to carry out a controlled burn, which should contain the fire and destroy fuel it would need. That should increase the scorched region by 500 acres.
The Flame-N-Goes, firefighters from Utah State Prison, were scheduled to arrive Monday. Also on Monday, a helicopter began dropping water. Containment was predicted for Monday afternoon.
A fire scorched about 150 acres in Box Elder County near the Idaho border. The fire, dubbed the Warm Springs fire, should be controlled by Monday afternoon, Pollock said. The blaze started about 4 p.m. on Sunday, presumably because of lightning strikes.
A nearby fire burned 30 acres before local fire crews contained it at around midnight. This too, was probably caused by lightning.
Other small fires dotted the region. At Dry Canyon, Cache County, a single tree burned. North of Promontory Point, Box Elder County, a blaze scorched 6 to 8 acres Sunday. Volunteer firefighters put these out.
Flying near the Wyoming border Sunday, the pilot of an airplane reported a fire 10 miles north of Mirror Lake, Summit County.
"He actually watched the lightning strike and then saw the flames," Pollock said.
No rain fell at the site, so a crew of firefighters searched for the blaze. But they were unable to find it.
Sometimes flames will flare for a few minutes and then go out. Because smoldering wood could reignite later, the crews planned to take another look on Monday.
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