Raging Utah wildfire prompts evacuation as crews struggle to contain it: Officials
Mandatory evacuations are underway for hundreds of people on Sunday in a central Utah town being threatened by a wind-driven, out-of-control wildfire, officials said.
The Iron Fire is burning in Juab County, about 28 miles southwest of Provo, and officials said on Sunday that flames are bearing down on Eureka, Utah, a small town in the East Tintic Mountains.
The wildfire, which started on Friday night, had burned more than 13,300 acres by Sunday morning and remains 0% contained, according to Utah Fire Info.
The wildfire, according to Utah Fire Info, was human-caused, but details of what sparked the blaze have not been released.
Shifting winds and dry vegetation fueled the wildfire on Saturday and sent it in the direction of Eureka, where authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday. Fire officials said flames were threatening "numerous structures" in the area.
The fire rapidly grew from about 5,000 acres on Saturday to more than 13,000 overnight.
"That’s way closer than anybody wants it to be," Daylan Hermanson, a Eureka resident, told ABC Salt Lake City affiliate station KTVX, as he watched flames creep over a mountainside headed for Eureka.
Kelly Wicken, a spokesperson for the Utah Division of Forestry, said the blaze started on private land and has now spread across Juab and two other counties, crossing onto federal land and shutting down a highway.
Before the fire, the National Weather Service had issued red flag fire danger warnings for a large part of the state.
Utah is also in the middle of a severe drought that has dried out vegetation, providing fuel for any fires.
"With June temperatures rising, Utah is facing a deepening drought that has accelerated the drying of soils and vegetation across the state," the Utah Department of Natural Resources said in a June 11 statement. "Wildfire season has already been active with over 230 fires so far this year, a majority of which were human-caused."
The Iron Fire is the biggest of 11 wildfires that have ignited across the state since Friday.
The Hastings Fire, which started on Saturday west of Salt Lake City, had burned 2,500 acres by Sunday morning and was 0% contained, according to Utah Fire Info.
The Middle Fork Fire near Ogden and the Boonville Fire, just east of the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, had both burned more than 300 acres since starting on Saturday and were both 0% contained on Sunday.
"Utah is facing multiple wildfires across the state today, and we are using every available resource to support response efforts," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a social media post on Saturday evening. "Conditions remain dry and dangerous. Please use extreme caution, follow evacuation notices, and do your part to prevent new fires."
