Whiterocks, Utah – Aided by light winds, firefighters made “outstanding” inroads Monday against a wildfire that has killed three people and burned more than 54 square miles.
About two dozen people in this town were allowed to return home as crews maintained fire lines near buildings in the sparsely populated area about 100 miles east of Salt Lake City.
But away from homes and other buildings, the strategy mostly was to let the fire burn dead trees in the Ashley National Forest, said Jay Esperance of the U.S. Forest Service.
“We’ve made outstanding progress,” Esperance said. “It is substantially more manageable.”
The blaze was 10 percent contained Monday evening.
Three people were killed Friday, the day the fire began. It has burned 35,000 acres, about one-third in the national forest and the rest on private and public lands and the Uintah and Ouray Indian reservations, said Marc Mullenix, an incident commander.
The cost so far: $1.6 million, half of it tied to helicopters and aircraft dropping water and retardant, he said.
About 300 people had to leave a handful of communities over the weekend, but Whiterocks residents were allowed to return.
More than 700 firefighters were summoned Monday from across the country, up from 400 the day before, and more were expected today. The Utah National Guard sent 100 people to keep roads closed and assist in law enforcement away from the fire.
In Southern California, firefighters also made progress Monday against wildfires from Santa Barbara to San Diego as the parched region headed into a heat wave.
More than 600 firefighters gained on a 482-acre fire in Los Padres National Forest northwest of Santa Barbara. The fire, which started Saturday evening, was 80 percent contained, authorities said, and full containment was expected today. The cause remained under investigation.
A fire that had burned 6 square miles in Montana just outside Yellowstone National Park was about 90 percent contained Monday night, the Forest Service said. Residents of West Yellowstone and guests at the Madison Arm Resort were allowed to return to the area, and the firefighting force of 500 had been scaled back to about 320.
