Since Friday, Salt Lake City residents have been watching smoke billowing from Antelope Island, where a wildfire grew exponentially overnight.
Lightning is believed to be cause of the fire, which ignited Thursday night in the Utah State Park northwest of Salt Lake City. The fire grew from a few hundred acres on Friday to around 8,000 acres by Saturday morning, said Shayne Ward, a public information officer.
“That’s coming from some of the resources on the ground,” Ward said of the estimated size. An aircraft has yet to fly over the fire to take a more exact reading of its size, Ward said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, several Bureau of Land Management Engines, a dozer, a helicopter and two Single Engine Airtankers are helping crews contain the blaze. Officials have requested a larger airtanker, which is on its way, Ward said.
Fire and smoke were visible from Salt Lake City on Friday night.
Incredible picture taken last night from Magna looking toward the West Antelope Fire. #utwx #KUTV2News @KUTV2News pic.twitter.com/2KAKtwXDN9
— Lindsay Storrs (@lindsay_storrs) July 23, 2016
Officials from the Utah Department of Natural Resources posted on Twitter to warn area residents to keep their drones out of the skies while firefighting aircraft headed to Antelope Island.
On a state-run website, utahfireinfo.gov, officials listed seven active wildfires in the state.
Check back on wildfiretoday.com for more updates on this fire.
