SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The nation’s largest wildfire has forced more than 1,500 people from their homes and cabins in a southern Utah mountain area home to a ski town and popular fishing lake.
Firefighters battled high winds Monday as they fought a fire that has grown to 67 square miles (174 square kilometers) and burned 13 homes — larger than any other fire in the country now, state emergency managers said.
The estimated firefighting costs now top $7 million for a fire started June 17 near the Brian Head Resort by someone using a torch tool to burn weeds, they said. Investigators know who the culprit is, but have not yet released the person’s identity or what charges will be leveled.
Crews in California, meanwhile, got a handle on a brush fire that closed a freeway. Arizona firefighters had to ground aircraft due to unauthorized drones over a fire near Flagstaff.
The Utah fire began near the ski resort town of Brian Head, generally known for weekend getaway homes for Las Vegas residents, and has spread several miles east to an area around Panguitch Lake, a popular spot for fishing.
Authorities ordered more evacuations Monday in a sparsely populated area as stronger winds and lower humidity develop that could push fire growth north after calmer weather kept its growth in check over the weekend. The fire is about 10 percent contained.
About 175 people have been briefly allowed back to their homes near Panguitch Lake since Sunday under escort, said Denise Dastrup with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
Randi Powell said her grandfather is hoping to get up to see his cabin on Tuesday. Powell said it’s been an “emotional roller coaster” for her and her grandparents, who live part of the year at a cabin near the fire. Powell said she and her sister helped grab family heirlooms, pictures and important documents last Thursday when her grandparents had to evacuate on short notice.
Powell is relying on social media updates from friends and others who live or have homes in the area. So far, it appears her grandparents’ 5-bedroom cabin, built some 60 years ago, is still intact, she said. But that hasn’t stopped them from worrying.
“There will be uncertainty until you get up there and walk through it,” said Powell, 32, who lives about one hour away in Cedar City. “Until it’s totally out, you won’t know if you’ll be ok.”
At Brian Head Resort, they are hoping that hot spots near where the blaze started will calm down enough to allow officials to lift the evacuations in time for 4th of July festivities that usually bring some 15,000 people to listen to music and watch fireworks, said resort spokesman Mark Wilder.
He said if the events can happen they will likely be scaled back with fewer visitors — and with no fireworks. Wilder said they’re hopeful but realistic.
“Things change day-to-day,” Wilder said. “This thing has been a beast.”
Crews in California, meanwhile, allowed people north of Los Angeles back to about 100 canyon homes threatened by a fast-moving brush fire caused by a freeway car crash.
The blaze Sunday consumed nearly 1.4 square miles (3.6 square kilometers) of brush and closed State Route 14 before crews working amid triple-digit temperatures halted its advance. One structure was destroyed but no injuries were reported.
KABC-TV aired video of several Santa Clarita residents trying to douse the encroaching flames with a garden hose and water from swimming pools.
In Arizona, firefighters had to ground aircraft after they spotted drones being flown near the fire, said Bureau of Land Management spokesman Dennis Godfrey. The Arizona Republic reports another unauthorized drone was spotted Sunday, temporarily halting aerial efforts to put out a fire northwest of Flagstaff that is 88 percent contained.
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