Progress made on Utah wildfires

FARMINGTON — Firefighters are back this morning on the front lines of a wildfire burning in the mountains here.

The Farmington fire, as it is being called, had burned nearly 700 acres as of this morning.

"It's putting up a little more smoke on the northeast side," said Kathy Jo Pollock with the U.S. Forest Service. "If we get cloud cover and the relative humidity, that may move progress."

Thunderstorms are expected to move over the area this afternoon. At this point, firefighters are hoping to have the fire contained by Thursday night or Friday. Helicopters and crews continue to work in steep canyons of dry brush to get the fire under control.

The wildfire is human-caused, but what exactly ignited it is under investigation, Pollock said. On Monday, investigators were back at the area they believe was the point of origin for the fire.

"There was so much trash up there," Pollock said. "Shotgun shells, .22 cartridges, cigarette lighters, and so on."

The area is a popular target shooting spot, authorities have said.

In eastern Utah, crews have contained a 151-acre wildfire that sparked near Fruitland, Duchesne County. Firefighters today will be out mopping up hot spots.

"We were lucky," said Cheryl Nelsen, the manager of the Uintah Basin Fire Center. "We got some resources, and we were able to hit it pretty hard."

Air tankers dropped retardant on the area, trying to keep the fast-moving grass fire from approaching homes. The fire was believed to have been caused by lightning.

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