NEOLA, Duchesne County — More than 80 firefighters, backed by air tankers and helicopters, were battling a wildfire that had burned an estimated 2,000 acres north of here by late Friday and is believed to have killed two residents.
Fire managers evacuated the community of Whiterocks on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation but officials reported that some residents refused to leave. Authorities late Friday refused to confirm the two reported fatalities but emergency personnel radio traffic indicated two residents had died in the blaze.
Other motorists were seen driving toward the fire, though Utah Highway Patrol troopers stationed on nearby roads advised against it.
Uintah Basin Interagency Fire Center manager Cheryl Nelsen said the blaze, dubbed the Neola North Fire, started shortly after 9 a.m. Friday on land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Nelsen said the cause of the fire was unknown. Fire bosses put in orders for additional air and ground crews, which were expected to begin arriving today.
Nelsen said no homes were in the direct path of the fire, but a hydroelectric power station and an unoccupied Girl Scout camp could be threatened. Officials evacuated campgrounds in Uintah Canyon, a popular recreation destination, after the blaze jumped state Road 121.
"Our main concern has been some camp trailers up in the canyon," said Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer Jay Mountainlion, who was manning a roadblock south of the fire. "We've been working hard on getting everyone out of there and getting the roads completely shut off."
Several people who were evacuated from the area said the camp-ground was full because of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.
Denise Fillingim and her daughter were stopped at the roadblock Friday as they tried to return from Roosevelt to their campsite. The family had pulled a new camp trailer up to a Uintah Canyon campground Thursday night and planned on staying there for 10 days. On Friday morning, they went to Roosevelt before the fire started to get more blankets and food. They noticed the smoke on their way back.
"I didn't want to go camping this weekend because it's been so dry," Denise Fillingim said. "I'm just praying we don't lose our truck and trailer."
Kayla Thomas of Salt Lake City was stopped at the roadblock on her way up the canyon to a family reunion. Her family had rented an entire campground for the reunion, which was to have lasted until Tuesday, and most of the family members were already up the canyon.
"I was so excited to just be able to lie in my hammock and relax," Thomas said. "I guess that isn't going to happen."
In Utah County, two wildfires near Saratoga Springs were expected to merge into one. What used to be the 5,200-acre Mercer Canyon fire and the Moffida fire have been renamed the M&M complex.
The PG fire on Provo's east bench near Provo Canyon was expected to be contained by late Friday. The fire was burning two miles away from Springdell, a small community in Provo Canyon, but was not immediately threatening any homes.
All three Utah County fires were human-caused.
"The majority of our fires have been human-caused and that's why the restrictions went in," said Dan Washington of the Bureau of Land Management. "But since the restrictions we've still had as many or more fires than we had before the restrictions."
Fireworks, open fires in all but approved fire pits in improved campgrounds and picnic areas, and outdoor smoking except in developed recreation sites have been banned on all lands west of I-15 throughout Utah and in all of Washington County since June 25.
Public carelessness is the main concern of firefighters and officials as they look toward the Fourth of July holiday. With the high temperatures, strong winds and bone-dry cheat grass — the main fuel source of fires — a stray sparkler or wayward firework could ignite an entire mountainside.
Contributing: Sara Israelsen
E-mail: geoff@ubstandard.com