Crews 'making progress' against Neola North Fire

ASHLEY NATIONAL FOREST — Rob Ayres describes his job as "90 percent of the most boring thing you could ever do, and 10 percent of the most exciting thing you could ever do."

The firefighter is one of hundreds battling the Neola North Fire, which has burned more than 42,465 acres at a cost of $4.1 million so far.

"We're making progress," he told the Deseret Morning News as he worked his way through an aspen meadow, making sure the fire lines that firefighters put in will hold the wildfire back.

With the fire now 50 percent contained and staying away from homes for now, authorities have begun a series of "burnout" operations in which firefighters start a series of smaller fires to keep the Neola North Fire from spreading.

"It's going very, very slow," said Dave Sisk, the deputy incident commander for the Rocky Mountain Fire Incident Management team, in charge of the massive firefighting effort. "It's steeper. We can't use equipment, so the firefighters that are out there are working it by hand."

Thunderstorms moving across the Uinta Basin have kicked up strong winds, making it more difficult for firefighters to suppress this blaze.

"We got pretty erratic winds," said Richie Bare, an engine boss manning a water-tender truck here.

Lightning has also been spotted, making fire officials uneasy. And dry conditions in eastern Utah are fueling the fire.

"It's been incredibly dry — drier than I've seen in years," Ayres said. "With the wind and the fuel being so dry, the fire kind of does what it wants to do."

On Thursday, the crew was mopping up hotspots from the burnout operations. They waded into the burned-out areas, sticking their hands in black and gray ash, feeling downed trees to make sure they were cold to the touch.

"I need that hose!" a firefighter shouted in the distance.

A man raced up to the piece of wood churning out smoke and doused it. When they were done, they fell in a line and walked toward the road. The men then walked up the road to another area. They passed another squad putting out hotspots, calling it "leapfrogging."

Overhead, a helicopter moved back and forth to drop water and fire retardant.