By Greg Lavine
The Salt Lake Tribune
Copyright 2007 The Salt Lake Tribune
All Rights Reserved
NEPHI, Utah — Within the next 48 hours, officials may decide whether residents can return to the subdivision communities lying to the east of central Utah’s 21,377-acre Salt Creek Fire. Those subdivisions include Oaker Hills, Indian Ridge and Elk Ridge.
The blaze near Nephi, which is 25 percent contained, has been helped by rains over the last several days, said Tom Speaks, a spokesman for the incident command team. The rains have mostly fallen on the western side of the fire.
Crews will continue efforts to keep the fire away from the community of Fountain Green, but other teams will be digging new fire lines closer to the edge of the blaze.
“Things are looking better around Fountain Green,” Speaks said.
At the moment, a secondary line has been created well in advance of the fire in the event it made a quick run at Fountain Green. But the fires are moving slow enough that teams will now try to make a line to contain the fire closer to where it is now burning,
Some of the community protection efforts have come due to more bulldozers becoming available from local sources.
While the rain has come in the last few days, more is expected in the next several days.
“That, of course, is our best ally,” he said. And in southern Utah, after a week of battling flames in rugged, steep terrain in and around southern Utah’s Zion National Park, crews are close to containing the Dakota Hills Complex fires.
The blazes have burned 9,156 acres in terrain so difficult to get to that firefighters had to be airlifted to some areas. Several communities were evacuated while the fires raged.
Firefighters are concentrating on patrolling, mopping up hot spots and removing unneeded equipment at the fire, which was 81 percent contained early today.
Crews and engines are in the demobilization stage, leaving just enough firefighters on the blaze in and near Zion National Park until a smaller fire management team arrives later today.
Evacuation orders have been lifted, allowing residents to return to communities north of Hay Canyon. State Road 14, however, is the only approved access road to the area for returning evacuees.
The section of North Fork Road between the end of the pavement north of Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Hay Canyon, including Cougar Canyon, remain closed. Residences accessible from that section of North Fork Road also remain under the evacuation order.
Trail closures in Dixie National Forest and Zion National Park have been lifted.
The Sleepy Hollow fire near Nibley grew to 890 acres, forcing the evacuation of six or seven homes along State Road 101 on Tuesday, said Cache County Fire Chief Gary Roberts. A 17-person handcrew, as well as several air tankers and a helicopter, were working to snuff out the blaze.
Two handcrews of 20 people were scheduled to arrive this morning to help battle the rugged east side of the fire, which was 40 percent contained Tuesday evening, said assistant fire chief Craig Pettigrew.
Lightning started the Sleepy Hollow fire about 5 p.m. Monday.
In Iron County, meanwhile, the 6,000-acre Paradise fire was 85 percent contained Tuesday, with firefighters working to maintain and construct handlines. The fire, burning near the Nevada border, is expected to be fully contained by today.
The Paradise fire has consumed three secondary residences and two outbuildings. No one has been injured.
The Winecup Complex fire, in the northwestern border between Utah and Nevada, has scorched about 206,000 acres of sage, brush and juniper. Flames have grown uncomfortably close to the tiny towns of Grouse Creek and Etna, but no evacuations were in effect, said fire spokeswoman Erin Darboven.
The Kimbell fire, burning some 17,000 acres in sparsely populated northwestern Utah’s high desert, was 60 percent contained.
Firefighters have controlled the Radio fire, 15 miles southwest of St. George, said fire spokeswoman LaCee Bartholomew. It has burned more than 8,700 acres since lightning started it July 18.