Drop in temperature aids firefighters

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity aided firefighters in their battle Saturday against the biggest of a rash of lightning-caused wildfires that have scorched more than 100 square miles of Utah.

The state's largest blaze of the season — the Big Pole fire near Grantsville — was 15 percent contained Saturday after destroying one home, two commercial properties and at least 10 outbuildings, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Jo Pollock.

The fire has blackened 44,071 acres — about 70 square miles — of mostly federal land, and was still threatening two homes, Pollock said. No injuries were reported.

"The cooler temperatures and higher humidities are really good news," she said. "It decreases the fire activity and will help firefighters. We're supposed to be in this weather pattern for two days and then Monday it'll heat up again."

Driven by high winds and fueled by cheatgrass, the fire exploded in size after being reported as a 10-acre blaze Thursday morning.

Crews were monitoring the perimeter of the blaze, which parallels state Route 196, and were battling the southeast portions of the fire were vehicle access is possible. Several smaller fires in the area include the Coyote fire east of Erda, the Settlement fire in Pole Canyon and the White Rocks fire, near Grantsville in the Skull Valley, were still contributing to the smoke in the air and were at varying degrees of containment Saturday.

It has prompted the closure of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in the Stansbury range.

The fire was among various blazes touched off by nearly 8,000 lightning strikes between midnight Wednesday and midnight Thursday.

Fire officials said 17 active fires have charred 73,795 acres, or more than 100 square miles, across Utah.

The 10,600-acre White Rocks fire 24 miles southwest of Grantsville was 70 percent contained, while the 4,460-acre Broken Ridge fire near Lund was 10 percent contained.

To the south, the 2,110-acre Horse fire in Zion National Park was 50 percent contained, with full containment expected Friday. The lightning-caused blaze began July 7.

As of Saturday, lightning-caused fires had burned more than 190,600 acres of forest service, BLM, state and National Park Service lands in Utah and northern Arizona. Crews from all over the state and nation, including neighboring states and some in the north east, were assisting in suppressing the fires, which continued to fill the air with hazy smoke throughout the day.

Although record low temperatures were reached Saturday, meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City expect temperatures to get back to average highs Sunday, however more storms are expected throughout the upcoming week.