Just as fire crews were finishing work on two wildfires that burned close to hillside homes in Salt Lake City and Brigham City, another fire ignited in the Salt Lake Valley Thursday afternoon.
A fire started about 1 p.m. near the top of City Creek Canyon. An airplane dropped retardant along the fire line, which was in an area that made it difficult for Salt Lake City firefighters to get to.
However, available state resources were able to get control of the fire quickly, said Bob Tonioli of the U.S. Forest Service.
Helicopters dumped water collected from a pond at a nearby golf course to fight the fire. Only about five acres burned, said Interagency Fire spokeswoman Kathy Jo Pollock. No structures were threatened.
"We tracked some lightning there from around 2 p.m. Wednesday," Tonioli said. "It must have smoldered in the brush until it was dry enough to start a fire."
Pollock said the fire possibly flared up because of wind.
The 150-acre Devonshire Fire, meanwhile, was fully contained Thursday evening as well. Two 20-person crews battled the flames from the ground. Crews will return to both areas in daylight today to assess hot spots, Tonioli said.
That fire, sparked by a blown transformer, came dangerously close to several homes near 1400 South and 2950 East.
Also Thursday, a fire in eastern Box Elder County was contained and controlled around 2 p.m. Four homes were evacuated due to the lightning-sparked fire, but none was damaged. About 298 acres were scorched in that fire.
In Tooele County, lightning sparked at least three new fires, but crews were able to keep them under five acres, said Erin Darboven of the Bureau of Land Management. She said the Pilot Fire continues to burn more than 700 acres but is nearly fully contained.
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