This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Crews on Wednesday were nearing full containment of the West Government Creek Fire, which had scorched 4,325 acres of Tooele County timber, brush and grasslands.
The 13-day-old blaze, first spotted Sept. 2, was 85 percent contained and was showing only minimal movement within remote, rugged terrain about 20 miles southwest of Vernon and in the Spanish Fork Ranger District.
Fire Information Officer Angelica Cacho said that more than 200 firefighters had completed cutting lines on the south and east sides of the blaze, while bulldozers worked to shore up breaks on the northern edge of the fire area.
While the area has been dry and windy this week, cooling thunderstorms moved into the region on Wednesday, bringing light rain. Those conditions allowed crews to focus on completing containment lines and mopping up hot spots.
No injuries, closures or structural losses have been reported from the fire. Investigation into its cause was ongoing.
About 220 firefighters worked central Utah's lightning-caused Fly Canyon Fire. Spotted on Sept. 8, the blaze had burned 2,866 acres of conifer and aspen about 5 miles north of Joes Valley in the Manti-Lasal National Forest.
Recent rainfall has help crews, also aided by air tankers and helicopters dropping loads of fire retardant and water, protect cabins, campgrounds and power lines.
However, Fire Information Officer Adam Solt said the Fly Canyon Fire was being managed a beneficial to forest health and being allowed to burn within its established perimeters.
Meanwhile, the Box Canyon Fire was officially at 48 percent containment after burning 4,233 acres since being first spotted July 28, about 12 miles east of Oakley.
But Incident Commanders Nick Hillman and Joe Williams reported that the human-caused blaze also was being allowed to burn as beneficial to the longterm health of mixed conifer-aspen forest lands in the Smith-Morehouse Creek region of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
About 10 firefighters monitored the blaze on Wednesday.
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