Firefighters are working on two fires in Central Utah that were reported Friday 14 minutes apart, separated by 28 air miles.
The Halfway Hill Fire spread rapidly about one mile east of Interstate 15, 2 miles southeast of Fillmore. On Friday the Millard County Sheriff’s Office ordered evacuations for the Virginia Hills subdivision southeast of Fillmore. Utah Fire Information reported Saturday morning it had burned 6,644 acres since it was reported at 3:13 p.m. July 8. At 12:30 p.m. on Saturday aircraft spotted working the fire included four single engine air tankers and two large RJ85 air tankers. They were reloading with retardant at Cedar City.
The blaze started while the relative humidity was 10 percent with a 15 mph wind gusting out of the southwest at up to 30 mph. Conditions are about the same Saturday afternoon.
The 1,200-acre Dry Creek Fire is 10 miles west of Interstate 15, 2 miles east of Oak City.
Looks like a lot of fuel above those fires; could “go big” with any kind of wind.
Air attack only won’t get the job done.
Dry Creek is burning pretty close to the Devil’s Den Fire area in which an AFMO was burned over back in 2006 and killed.
In 2012 the Clay Springs fire south of Oak City burned over an engine.
That area is a rough place to fight fire.