Fire officials in Utah say residents near an eight-square kilometre wildfire in Park City can’t return to their homes until later Thursday, at the earliest.
The blaze, started by lightning, has destroyed 14 homes, as well as other buildings, cars and boats, and some 250 other homes are threatened.
On Tuesday, lightning-sparked blazes devoured dry grass and brush across the West and burned to the edges of small communities in several states.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert confirmed late Tuesday that the wildfire sparked by lightning and burning near the mountain resort town of Park City also had destroyed at least 15 other structures such as vehicles, sheds and boats.
In about a dozen Western states, crews were actively fighting fires where drought has dried out landscapes and contributed to extreme fire behaviour. Health officials, meanwhile, monitored air quality in areas that have been blanketed by smoke for days.
Shifting winds in Utah pushed the fire toward homes in a subdivision about 10 miles northeast of Park City, said Steve Rutter, a fire management officer with the state, who spoke at a news conference late Tuesday.
The homes burned were primary residences in the Lake Rockport Estates, where the Summit County Assessor reported residences are worth around $250,000.
“We have homes that are completely surrounded by black, vegetation completely gone. But we were able to preserve the homes,” he said. “It looks really ugly right now. It’s a big black spot but there are still a lot of people who will be able to go home when we open it back up.”
About 250 homes were still “imminently threatened,” he said.
Meanwhile, Herbert said the fire has grown to 4,000 acres, or more than 6 square miles. It is 5 per cent contained. Two Black Hawk helicopters will be used to fight the fire Wednesday.
At times, the fire had been moving at 50 feet to 80 feet per minute with wind gusts of up to 50 mph, Rutter said.
“All in all it could have been a lot worse,” Rutter said. “Tomorrow will be another day.”
More than 100 people were assigned to help fight the fire.
Evacuations were expected to remain in place until at least Wednesday evening.
Russ Moseley chose to stay in his home and fight back flames with a garden hose as it came within 150 feet, he told The Salt Lake Tribune. He said he could feel the heat radiating on his face and saw the fire swallow homes below his and blow up propane tanks.
“It’s like being in Vietnam,” Moseley said.
In west-central Utah’s Skull Valley, more than 20 structures were threatened by the Patch Springs Fire that covered some 16 square miles. No evacuations had been ordered, though the fire remained about two miles from the town of Terra and homes on the Goshute Indian Reservation.
More than 200 firefighters were working to contain the largest blaze in Utah, which has jumped at least 6 miles across the border into Idaho. The lightning-caused State Fire has charred almost 33 square miles in steep and rugged terrain.
The fire was less than a mile from the Idaho town of Samaria on Tuesday, but a fire line south of the town has held, said fire information officer Rick Hartigan.
Associated Press writers John Miller in Boise, Idaho, Bob Moen in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nev., contributed to this report.
Comments