By BEN WINSLOW
Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
Copyright 2006 The Deseret News Publishing Co.
Eleven wildfires have burned more than 10,000 acres, primarily in southern and central Utah, in the past week.
The largest has been the Cave Fire, which ignited late Tuesday afternoon about 10 miles southwest of Santa Clara and has charred 3,590 acres of cheatgrass, sagebrush and pinion juniper, said Anne Stanworth of the Color Country Fire Center.
The flames have also taken out power to a radio tower, affecting some emergency communications.
“We’ve got a repeater there and the radio transmitter is down,” Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said Wednesday. “It’s affecting communications to an extent, but it’s nothing we can’t overcome.”
It is believed to be human-caused but remains under investigation.
Two new, small fires started Wednesday, “keeping firefighters hopping,” Stanworth said.
The Buckskin fire, burning near Kanab, has burned at least 200 acres and is growing. The cause is unknown. Another fire, the Red Cliffs fire burning in Pine Valley, burned only a small patch of land and crews were able to get it out before it caused more damage.
A brush fire that torched two homes in Veyo was contained as of Monday afternoon. The 600 West fire burned nearly 100 acres, forcing evacuations. Residents were forced to relocate to a church building while firefighters tried to save their homes, said Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman LaCee Bartholomew.
Elsewhere, fire threatening an Indian reservation near the Arizona border caused the evacuation of several homes and a school Monday.
A lightning-sparked fire, dubbed the Coal Mine fire, in northern Utah has torched about 50 acres of timber in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. It is burning in thick heavy timber and woody debris about a mile from Hoop Lake in the Uintas.
Near Elberta, a wildfire spread Wednesday from 100 acres to more than 3,200 acres. Utah County officials reported the fire to be about 85 percent contained by 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, and hoped to have it completely contained by tonight.
The North Sand Mountain fire, near Nephi, burned nearly 1,500 acres when it started Friday. It was contained Sunday.
In south-central Utah, crews are trying to contain the Annabella Fire burning near Richfield. The lightning-sparked fire has burned nearly 600 acres. High winds and low humidity made for difficult fire-fighting conditions Wednesday, but firefighters were able to mop up hotspots while keeping an eye out for thunderstorms.
Firefighters are using a pair of wildfires to do some resource management. The U.S. Forest Service says the 1,400-acre Blackbird Mine Fire near Marysvale, and the 28-acre Meadow fire southeast of Fillmore, are both being allowed to burn to restore forest and range land. Contributing: Wendy Leonard E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com