The Silver King Fire in south-central Utah had burned more than 10,820 acres as of 7 p.m. on Sunday, the U.S. Forest Service reported on social media.
The blaze is “exhibiting extreme fire behavior,” the U.S. Forest Service wrote.
Marysvale, a community of roughly 400 people in Piute County, is the closest town to the fire.
Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune
The fire has continued to progress over the weekend as firefighters battled record high temperatures and winds up to 30 miles per hour. It started Friday and the source is believed to be lightning.
Multiple crews of firefighters, as well as aircraft and bulldozers, were working the fire to the east and the south on Sunday, “utilizing aircraft including multiple Very Large Air Tankers (VLAT’s), helicopters and ground resources such as dozers and additional heavy equipment to reduce risks to the public and increase defensible space,” per the U.S. Forest Service.
Fixed-wing aircraft were grounded for a period of time due to high winds.
The U.S. Forest Service reported Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson were briefed Sunday.
A CIMT, or complex incident management team, will take command of fighting the fire at 6 a.m. on Monday.
Marysvale Fire Chief Jon Christensen said there were no evacuation orders issued as of Sunday morning.
“We’ve been checking in on folks, making sure they’re OK,” Christensen said. “Making sure that if they have to go, we’re as ready as we can be. But we are a small town of 400 people and unfortunately most of my fire is also EMTs and search and rescue. We’re all wearing so many hats.”
A red flag warning remained in place through 9 p.m. Sunday.
This is a developing story and it may be updated.
