Lea Twitchell and her family were told to leave their New Harmony home if flames reached a ridgetop three miles away.

"At church today, the bishop told us all to go home and get our valuables together, just in case," she said. Church members were calling everyone on a phone tree Sunday, and visited other neighbors who weren't on the list or don't have phones.

Her husband, Craig Twitchell, and son, Greg Barnes, were mowing high weeds near their house, and her 17-year-old daughter, Christie Barnes, was gathering food for three horses, three dogs, five ferrets, a hamster and a guinea pig in case flames reached the ridgetop.

She said smoke and ash had already built up a layer on the cars. "It's a little bit irritating to breathe," she said.

Fire crews began a burnout around 7 p.m. Sunday in an effort to push the head of the Blue Springs Fire back into the rugged mountain terrain and away from the open, grassy flats where New Harmony, population about 200, lies.

"We are developing trigger points for the fire so that we know when we would need to put an evacuation order in place," Boyd said Sunday evening. "The fire is about six miles from New Harmony, however, and evacuations are not imminent."

Max Lasley of Cedar City was one of several people who drove down to see the wildfire before heading back home.

"I fought fires for three years with the Red Eye engine crew," said Lasley, who now works in another business. "I really miss it. I guarantee you any firefighter that comes to see this is just aching to fight it."

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Contributing: Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press

E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com