HENEFER, Summit County — A Wasatch Back town is being evacuated as a precaution as a fast-growing wildfire begins to pick up in intensity again.
Henefer is being evacuated after the Rocky Canyon Fire began pushing back toward the community, said Sierra Hellstrom, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, in a short briefing that was cut short because of the new threats.
An alert is expected to be sent out to residents Monday afternoon. A community meeting is also scheduled to be held at North Summit High School (111 E. 100 South in Coalville) with more information.
The fire is now estimated to have burned 15,500 acres and remains 0% contained.
The update comes after firefighters were able to stop the fire from reaching East Canyon Dam and a few other key areas between Sunday and Monday.
However, Hellstrom warned that the fire continued to threaten “quite a few” structures, while also having potential impacts on many livestock in the area, as well as the junction between I-80 and I-84.
Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team crews conducted firing operations that helped slow the fire by state Route 66 in the East Canyon area, Hellstrom said. Crews were cautiously optimistic after fire activity slowed toward the end closest to Henefer, but winds began to pick up again as monsoonal moisture is helping storms to develop throughout the area.
The fire, which has mostly burned on state lands, has continued to march east, though, crossing Franklin Canyon. Areas south of Franklin Canyon to Icy Springs/Wohali Way were elevated to “set” status for potential evacuations, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said Monday afternoon.
FEMA authorizes funds
Meanwhile, the state is getting federal assistance as it attacks the fire. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday that it has approved Utah’s Fire Management Assistance Grant application, authorizing federal funds to help with costs associated with battling the fire.
More than 150 homes or other buildings have been threatened by the Rocky Canyon Fire since it broke out on Friday, according to FEMA, which approved similar requests for other major fires in the state this year.
The grant doesn’t provide any assistance to any private structure loss or infrastructure damage caused by the fire, but it allows Utah to receive up to 75% of its eligible firefighting costs.
That’s important because this fire year figures to be an expensive one for Utah. Over 800 fires have now started across the state since the year began, burning more than 514,000 acres. It’s the state’s second-most acreage lost to fire on record.
No impacts on Widemouth 2 Fire operations
Many local fire departments have assisted Rocky Canyon Fire operations in Morgan and Summit counties, especially when the conditions worsened on Sunday. Firefighters battling the state’s largest fire this year don’t expect to lose resources as another fire threatens communities.
“We continue to have orders filled. We’re seeing our personnel increase on this fire,” said Karl Hunt, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, speaking on behalf of Great Basin Team 2, which is managing firefighting operations.
Nearly 800 personnel were assigned to the fire this week, and more were expected as the fire remains one of the top priorities in the region.
But that could change, as large chunks of Utah, Idaho and Nevada remain in preparedness Level 5 over the high fire danger and lack of available resources while even larger fires continue to rage in the Pacific Northwest, Hunt said.
“(We’re) still filling those, but there’s a lot of fire activity out here in Utah and in the West that is creating that resource competition,” he said. “It is an issue we’re working through.”
The Widemouth 2 Fire has now scorched over 118,000 acres after it was sparked by lightning late last month.
Parts of Millard and Sevier counties remain evacuated, but evacuations in parts of southeast Fillmore were lifted on Monday. Fillmore remains in “set” status for potential evacuations, along with some other parts of the area.
This story may be updated.