VERNAL — The U.S. Forest Service announced plans Wednesday to dedicate an information kiosk to three men killed in a 2007 wildfire that charred nearly 44,000 acres in Duchesne and Uintah counties.
The dedication ceremony will be held Aug 9. at 11 a.m. along Forest Service Road 117 north of Whiterocks at a spot that overlooks the Neola North Fire area.
The fire killed George Houston, 63, his 43-year-old son Tracy, and Roger Roberson Sr., 75.
The Houstons were at Roberson's farm on June 29, 2007, to buy hay and were helping him move a water line to protect his freshly mowed field from the fire burning on a nearby ridge.
Ultimately, the blaze exploded into the valley where the men were working. It killed the Houstons outright and fatally injured Roberson. Tracy Houston's then-11-year-old son, Duane, escaped the blaze after his father told him to run.
The cause of the fire, which was fought by more than 700 firefighters at its peak, is still under investigation.
The new information kiosk will not only serve as a memorial to the men who died, said Ashley National Forest spokesman Louis Haynes, but will also provide a timeline of events as they unfolded in June and July 2007.
The dedication ceremony will include a short program with speakers, Haynes said.