VERNON, Tooele County — About 10 small brush fires broke out along state Route 36 on Monday, including one that briefly threatened a fire station, officials said.
The fires burned less than an acre each and were quickly put out by state crews and local fire departments, said Jason Curry, spokesman for Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
The Vernon Fire Department building was threatened by one of the brush fires.
"It did require some pretty quick action," Curry said.
The various fires ignited along a stretch of about 15 miles between the small towns of Vernon and Rush Valley around 2 p.m.
The fires are still under investigation, Curry said, but it's possible they were ignited by a vehicle dragging trailer chains along the roadway, causing sparks. There were multiple reports of such a vehicle in the area.
At the state's fringes, two wildfires are ongoing.
A 4,000-acre blaze called the Mt. Emma Fire is raging close to the Utah-Arizona border. The steadily expanding fire, caused by lightning Wednesday, is about 2 miles from the nearest home.
Another wildfire was ignited by lightning Saturday at Utah's border with Colorado. The Ecklund Fire has burned about 400 acres at Dinosaur National Monument. The monument's buildings and visitors were not in immediate danger, and no evacuations were ordered, fire officials said Monday.