Fire tough on ranchers

Utah Agriculture Commissioner Leonard Blackham said the state is seeking an emergency declaration from the secretary of agriculture, though he doesn't know if that will help much because no federal money is available through that agency.

"We hope we will have something for the ranchers here in the short term," Blackham said.

Contingency grazing lands are set aside for emergencies and his department will "see what gaps we can fill. Within a week we'll have some kind of proposal put together," he said.

Todd Christensen, field manager for the BLM's Cedar City field office, said a plan to eradicate cheat grass could include herbicides that would keep new grasses from growing, giving other plants time to get established. That plan is now in the final stages of the environmental approval process, he said.

Representatives of Utah's congressmen also visited the Kanosh fire camp Wednesday.

The firefighting price tag hit $1.9 million Wednesday. State Forester Dick Buehler said he expects total firefighting costs to top $4 million.

Rowdy Muir, the incident commander in charge of the fire, said he has a $12 million budget but hopes to spend a lot less and be finished with the fire within a week. The Wyoming rancher said he gets summoned to Washington, D.C., when he spends too much money.

"I don't like Washington, and Washington doesn't like me...so I'm trying not to spend any more taxpayer money than I have to," Muir said.

"The fire could still get up and run," Buehler said Wednesday, adding he believes the worst — of the fire itself — is over.

Buehler said that at one point the fire was spreading so fast a firefighter driving from Cedar City was pacing the spreading blaze at 65 mph.

"We actually had rabbits that were catching fire and running across the road and spreading the fire," Buehler said. The closest developed areas outside the fire's uncontained boundaries are the Clear Lake area near Delta on the north and Beaver to the south.

Muir said he doesn't expect the fire to threaten Beaver. He expected the number of firefighters on the blaze would reach 700 in a day or two.

Muir acknowledged the fire may be the biggest ever in Utah, but it isn't the only wildfire in the state. A fire burning north of Price already has 900 firefighters on hand. It had burned 1,700 acres, much of it near mines and other development, by Wednesday night.

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