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Wildfires continued to burn in Utah on Sunday, but their numbers and their threats have been reduced greatly thanks to a turn in the weather.
The Morgan Canyon Fire, the Pack Creek Fire, the Bennion Creek Fire, the Flatt Fire, the Bear Fire and the Sego Fire were still being reported as active by the U.S. Forest Service via its InciWeb site after nearly 10 were reported active a week ago. Several of the reports credited cooler, moister weather for allowing crews to gain ground on the blazes.
“Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and a little rain on the fire Thursday and yesterday helped firefighters in their effort to contain the Morgan Canyon Fire,” a report issued Saturday by the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest said.
The Morgan Canyon Fire in the Deseret Peak Wilderness in Tooele County is the least contained at 40%, according to Saturday’s report. Sparked by a downed plane, it has burned 509 acres and is being attended by 146 firefighters and support crew.
The Pack Creek Fire in Grand County is 77% contained. However, firefighters got some help from the weather Saturday in their efforts to quell the 8,952-acre blaze, in addition to five fire engines, two helicopters and two crews totaling about 110 people. Rainy weather is expected in the area for a few more days. That moisture should also help refill Mill Creek, which was drained when water was diverted to a reservoir to be used to douse the fire, killing hundreds of fish.
Evacuations are still in place for the Holyoak and Dark Canyon wilderness areas. The La Sal Loop Road is now open, but Geyser Pass and Oowah Lake Roads are closed. The Warner Lake and Oowah Lake campgrounds also remain closed, as do several roads and trails within the Manti-La Sal National Forest.
The Bear Fire north of Price is 93% contained and has burned 12,174 acres. Meanwhile, the Bennion Creek fire is 94% contained. That fire, situated midway between Provo and Price, has burned 8,313 acres. The Flatt Fire, which has burned 14,082 acres stretching into Nevada from Utah’s southwest corner, is 90% contained. The much smaller Sego Fire, which has burned 167 acres along I-70 near the Colorado border, is 85% contained.
The threat to St. George residents from a fire in Arizona also seems to have been mitigated. The Mile Marker 25 I-15 Fire is 85% contained, according to Utah Fire Info, after burning 1,001 acres and closing a northbound lane of the interstate.
Utah is in the midst of one of its worst droughts. As of Friday, Stage 2 fire restrictions — the most severe in the state — were set for all BLM and national parks land, for the Manti-La Sal National Forest, and for unincorporated private lands in Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties and part of Sanpete.
