Utah Wildfire Destroys 14 Homes Near Resort Town

August 15,2013




WANSHIP, Utah — A wildfire threatened hundreds of homes Wednesday after destroying more than a dozen others outside the resort town of Park City.
The lightning-sparked blaze was among several in the West where fires have devoured dry grass and brush and burned to the edges of small communities.
Shifting winds in Utah pushed the fire toward homes in a subdivision about 10 miles outside Park City. It destroyed a dozen homes on Tuesday, plus another home overnight.
(MORE: Wanship, Utah Forecast | See How Firenadoes Form)

A 14th home burned Wednesday after strong winds kicked up in the afternoon, the Deseret News reported. The blaze also burned 20 outbuildings and several vehicles and boats, fire officials said.

The fire began near a populated area and had grown to 2,000 acres, or nearly 3 square miles, by Wednesday evening. About 250 homes northeast of Park City remain threatened, including some along a golf course in the gated community of Promontory.

Residents who hoped to return home Wednesday night aren't likely to be allowed back in until Thursday at the earliest, said Utah fire official Mike Eriksson. Some were allowed to pick up pets and medication early Wednesday.

Steady winds and rising temperatures stoked the fire Wednesday afternoon, sending large clouds of brownish-black smoke into the sky. The fire was still only about 25 percent contained, said Utah fire official Mike Eriksson.

"The winds haven't been helping out with this fire," Eriksson said. "It's definitely growing."

The lighting strike that ignited the blaze Tuesday shook Kim Alderman's convenience store, and flames were visible within a few minutes. The fire then spread into the gated communities of Rockport Ranches and Rockport Estates, mostly middle-class homes used as primary residences, said Alderman, owner of the Rafter B Gas N' Grub in Wanship.

Brenda Child was at a nearby lake with her 6-year-old grandson when she saw the flames Tuesday afternoon. She raced home in her car and ran into the house with her shirt covering her mouth to avoid breathing in the smoke. She grabbed her dog, computer and insurance policy and left. When she was allowed to return Wednesday, she found the 3,000-square-foot house she and her husband moved into three months ago untouched.

"I was absolutely horrified that our house was going to be gone," Child said.
(MORE: Wildfire Safety Tips for Your Family and Home)

Several helicopters and one large DC-10 tanker plane worked the fire Wednesday, dropping fire retardant. More than 100 people were assigned to help fight the fire.

In west-central Utah's Skull Valley, more than 20 structures had been threatened by the Patch Springs Fire on Tuesday. Crews made progress and officials said Wednesday the structures were no longer threatened by the 16-square-mile blaze.

More than 250 firefighters were working to contain the largest blaze in Utah, which jumped across the border into Idaho. The lightning-caused State Fire has charred almost 36 square miles in steep and rugged terrain. It was 50 percent contained.

In Idaho, fire crews prepared to capitalize on favorable winds and lower temperatures to continue burnout operations around the small mountain community of Pine, where the Elk Complex remained the nation's No. 1 firefighting priority.

The lightning-caused fire has burned across more than 175 square miles and destroyed structures in the community of Fall Creek, fire spokeswoman Ludie Bond said.

A wildfire near Glenwood Springs, Colo., prompted a small number of evacuations Tuesday, Garfield County Sheriff's Office spokesman Walter Stowe said. The Red Canyon Fire was threatening 20 structures and was 10 percent contained Wednesday.

Meanwhile, health district officials in northern Nevada were monitoring air quality concerns due to smoky haze from a wildfire in the Tahoe National Forest more than 60 miles away.

Colorado Fire Requires Additional Help

More firefighters joined the battle Wednesday against an erratic 390-acre wildfire southeast of Glenwood Springs that threatened 20 structures.

The Red Canyon Fire was burning in rugged pinyon and juniper forest about 3 miles southeast of the city and was 27 percent contained. Two 20-person hand crews joined 100 personnel at the scene Wednesday. They were backed by two water-dropping helicopters, one heavy air tanker and two small air tankers.

The Post Independent reported that the fire threatened 20 structures, though none was in immediate danger. No injuries have been reported.

Authorities believe lightning may have started the blaze on Monday.

Bill Kight, spokesman for a multi-agency Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team at the scene, said wind gusts have complicated firefighters' efforts. "Every day, we get these downflows from storm cells that travel over the fire" and push it in different directions, Kight said.

Also Wednesday, forest officials in southern Colorado upgraded containment on the West Fork Complex to 80 percent.

The West Fork Complex has charred more than 171 square miles in the Rio Grande National Forest. Forest spokesman Mike Blakeman says the West Fork Complex isn't being actively fought, but threatens no structures. He predicted the wildfire wouldn't be fully out until snow falls, though he said the burn area will reopen by hunting season Aug. 31.

Investigators still haven't pinpointed the cause of June's Black Forest Fire, which killed two people, destroying 488 homes and charring 22 square miles.

El Paso County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer said it appears the fire was human-caused. He said investigators are still awaiting reports on some laboratory tests.

Winds, Lower Temps Help Idaho Firefighters

In Idaho, fire crews prepared to capitalize on favorable winds and lower temperatures to continue burnout operations around the small mountain community of Pine, where the Elk Complex remained the nation's No. 1 firefighting priority.
The lightning-caused fire had burned across more than 140 square miles, and fire officials were working to push the fire toward an area already torched by a massive fire last year, fire spokeswoman Ludie Bond said.
"Everything seems to be going smoothly," Bond said.
No buildings burned overnight Monday, though fire officials were still tallying structure losses in Fall Creek, a little community several miles south of Pine where flames rolled through on Saturday.
Pine and the neighboring mountain hamlet of Featherville, 8 miles from the flames, remained threatened.
Several new, lightning-caused fires also were reported on rural, federal lands in Idaho.

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Untouched homes are next to the ashes of a home and blackened foliage near Rockport, Utah, Wednesday morning, Aug. 14, 2013. (AP PHOTO/Ravell Call, Deseret News)