Crews and helicopters have made good progress on containment of this fire. Yesterday afternoon the fire transitioned from the joint jurisdiction of Utah Forestry Fire and State Lands and the Manti-La Sal National Forest to a local Type 3 Incident Command Team under the Command of Steve Rutter.
Today’s actions will be focused on eliminating heat from the bottom end of the fire closest to the homes to eliminate the threat to structures. Crews will be securing containment lines and conducting grid search operations to locate any hidden pockets of heat. From the air, three helicopters will be dropping water to subdue the most actively burning areas.
“We’re going to use every tool available to us,” says Rutter. “Every hotspot will be addressed until we see no more smoke near these homes.”
Residual smoke is moving into the area from fires burning in western Utah and California and has settled in valleys throughout the state. People with breathing difficulties should remain indoors and take proper precautions.
Carbon County issued an evacuation order for the Scofield Mountain Homes subdivision yesterday. The road on the west side of Scofield Reservoir is closed to the public due to smoke and high traffic from fire vehicles.
This afternoon agency managers will assess the need for continued evacuation and road closures. The threat to structures from the fire has dropped, but traffic from the 30-plus fire vehicles is of primary concern. A decision to relax the evacuation level could be made by this afternoon.
Homeowners with concerns regarding the evacuation may contact Carbon County Sheriff James Cordova at 435-636-3251.
For further information visit www.utahfireinfo.gov or the Sanpete Ranger District at 435 283-4151.
Fish Creek drainage west of Scofield Reservoir
"Crews and helicopters have made good progress on containment of this fire."