DUCHESNE — Nearly 500 homes, trailers, vehicles and other structures have been destroyed or damaged in the Dollar Ridge Fire burning near Strawberry Reservoir, Duchesne County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.
According to a report from damage assessment teams, 80 homes were affected, including 74 that were destroyed and six that were damaged. Additionally, 131 camp trailers, 81 utility trailers, 158 sheds or agricultural buildings, and 25 vehicles had all been damaged or destroyed by the blaze as of Monday morning in Duchesne and Wasatch counties, the sheriff's office said.
Officials are still assessing damage in "remote" areas the fire has impacted, the office added.
An informational meeting was held Tuesday at the Fruitland LDS chapel for those with property inside the fire's perimeter.
According to state fire officials, cloudy conditions and light rain over parts of the fire Monday helped "moderate fire activity."
"Firefighters were able to continue their suppression efforts along containment lines and were able to establish sections of new line along the western and southern flanks," fire officials said in a press release Tuesday.
They also were able to set up fire camps on the north and south edges of the fire, "which allows the firefighters more time on the line and lessens their exposure on the highway," fire officials said.
The blaze was burning about 52,000 acres and was 50 percent contained Tuesday, with state fire officials reporting the fire "continues to be active along the southern portion of the fire perimeter along Timber Ridge Road."
While nearly 900 firefighters continued to fight the Dollar Ridge Fire, lightning sparked a new fire, dubbed the Ellerbeck Fire, in rural Tooele County late Monday. The blaze has quickly grown to 4,000 acres, threatening two homes. Only one was still in harm's way later Tuesday afternoon.
The blaze grew rapidly in the Timpie Point area northwest of Grantsville, said Ryan Willden, public information officer for the North Tooele Fire District.
"We're hoping to get a good handle on it this afternoon," Willden said, with crews bringing in bulldozers to protect the two homes Tuesday afternoon.
Containment was at 40 percent, according to the Utah Fire Info website, run by a group of Utah and federal agencies fighting fires across the state. Sixty firefighters were trying to put out the blaze, according to a press release from state fire officials.
Willden's teams were fighting the blaze along with teams from Grantsville, and state and federal Bureau of Land Management firefighters, including a Hotshot hand crew.
Willden said the fire was approaching a quarry and lime plant in the area. A Walmart distribution center farther away is not threatened.
Another fire, named the Foothill Fire, broke out Tuesday northwest of Holden, Millard County, and was burning an estimated 150 acres.
In southern Utah, crews Tuesday held the West Valley fire near St. George at 11,700 acres, with 55 percent containment.