Firefighters make gains on Beaver County fire

KANOSH, Beaver County — Firefighters made gains Friday on the Milford Flat fire, thanks to calm winds and few flare-ups.

Officials said the fire has charred 363,052 acres and is 65 percent contained.

The Great Basin Type 1 Incident Management Team fighting the state's largest blaze in history is mapping the fire from helicopter and will have new containment numbers tonight.

"They're trying to tie off the southern flank and are making progress (northeast)," Type 1 team fire information officer Mike Martin said.

Large portions of the eastern and western sides are contained, but firefighters are "mopping-up," which means they are hosing down smoky areas 50 to 100 feet from the fire line.

Temperatures today were in the high 90s.

Full containment is expected for Tuesday.

Lightning sparked the blaze July 6 east of Milford, Beaver County.

The fire spans about 20 miles from Milford to I-15 and about 80 miles from Beaver to Fillmore.