Firefighters make some headway Saturday, but blazes roaring on

Wildfires continued to roar throughout parts of Utah Saturday, fueled by the parched conditions and winds, but firefighters made some headway against two of the largest blazes.

The Salt Creek fire that erupted in Sanpete County Thursday continued burning throughout the night Friday, but did not gain much ground. The fire's size originally was thought to be 18,000 acres, but was determined to be about 14,217 acres after global positioning satellite maps were created.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. made an aerial tour of the fire Saturday morning and met with the fire incident command that is battling the blaze, according to Lisa Roskelley, the governor's spokeswoman. Huntsman praised the firefighters' efforts and promised to provide any help, including assistance from the National Guard if that is required to fully contain the fire.

An undisclosed number of cattle and at least 70 sheep have died in the blaze. In addition, state route 132 remains closed and people evacuated from their homes still must stay away. Previously at least three buildings have been burned and other buildings there are still in danger.

No buildings were lost overnight in the fire that started about five miles east of Nephi. Fresh local crews are expected today to battle the blaze and they will focus primarily on tearing out brush and building lines at the fire's front lines.

The National Weather Service predicted high, gusty winds and dangerous lightning on Saturday afternoon in this area. Fire officials are concerned that winds up to 50 mph could spread the fire in any direction.

Meanwhile, the Dakota Hills Complex fire, about 12 miles north of Springdale near Zion National Park, grew significantly from 8,000 acres Friday to about 9,400 by mid-Saturday.

The trees, grass, bushes are "incredibly dry" and, since the terrain is so steep, firefighters are looking at quite a challenge, according to Rick Hartigan, public information officer for Arizona Central West Zone Incident Management Team.

There are actually two fires and the one called the "east fire" migrated eastward toward Table Bench.

Hartigan said firefighters along the North Fork Road, east of the fire, created deliberate burnouts to clear the ground of foliage to help stop its spread.

Hartigan is guardedly optimistic about the progress that could be made Saturday.

"Today, the weather is definitely in our favor," he said. "It is cloudy and we did have some rain in the vicinity, although I don't know if it fell on the fire. These are working to our advantage — higher humidity and lower temperature is at least a good start."