From Deseret News archives:

U.S. 6 reopening

A major, concerted effort refills blast crater and removes debris

By Nicole Warburton and Jeremy Twitchell
Deseret Morning News

Published: Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 12:00 a.m. MDT

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At the work site, crews and machinery were working in a tight area, something that made the job difficult, said Easton. Officials were also on-site from the U.S. Forest Service, railroad and fiber-optic companies.

CentraCom, an independent telephone company, had to replace 416 feet of copper wire and 600 feet of fiber-optic cable that serve the residents of Scofield.

Union Pacific crews had one of the two tracks damaged in the explosion reopened Wednesday evening. The westbound track, which was more heavily damaged, was expected to be completed Thursday evening.

However, the crews with arguably the most difficult job in the wake of the explosion were the firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service.

Debris from the truck showered along the mountainside around the blast area over a radius of as much as 200 yards. Chris Church, the incident commander for the Forest Service, said crews were dealing with about 200 different hot spots. Fortunately, he said, the fires were not spreading.

"Because of all the snow we had last winter, most of the fuels that are higher on the mountain, like the sage and the oak, have a high moisture content," Church said.

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The fires spread so slowly, in fact, that the Forest Service didn't put crews on the scene until Thursday morning, citing the potential danger of undetonated explosives. A helicopter began battling the blazes Wednesday night, and 30 firefighters and two engines arrived on the scene Thursday morning.

Church said the fires would be contained by this afternoon at the latest.

The incident remains under investigation by police.

"Speed was definitely a factor," Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Ken Peay said. "We know how fast he was going, but we're not ready to release that at this time."

Peay said UHP will be working with the Utah County Attorney's Office to screen possible charges against Travis Stewart, the truck's driver.

The findings of UHP's investigation will be turned over the County Attorney today, and UHP will wait to see what charges, if any, are filed before issuing any citations.

"We don't want to issue anything right now," Peay said. "You don't ever file a lesser charge that's part of a larger charge."

E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com; jtwitchell@desnews.com