Neola, Utah – A wildfire that has killed three people and charred more than 62 square miles, including part of a national forest, could burn all summer even as hundreds of firefighters continue to fight it, a commander said Tuesday.
More than 700 firefighters have joined the battle, with more expected to arrive to help protect homes and control the burn. The fire was 20 percent contained, and people evacuated in a string of small communities were told they could return today, a spokeswoman for the firefighters said.
Since Friday, when three people were killed, the fire has burned nearly 40,000 acres – about a third in the Ashley National Forest and the rest on private and public land and the Uintah and Ouray Indian reservations.
Most of the fire’s expansion was away from communities, officials said.
Fire officials want to let the fire continue to burn in parts of the national forest to clear dead trees. Some small communities in the area still were under mandatory evacuation.
“We might have fire out there on that mountain this whole summer,” said Kim Martin, incident commander.
Gov. Jon Huntsman toured the fire Tuesday and said he was pleased with the progress made in protecting homes.
“We’ve had a difficult and a traumatic few days,” he told reporters. “Some states get hurricanes; some get tornadoes. We get wildfires, and they are no different in terms of devastating consequences.”
He deployed 100 National Guard troops Monday to enforce roadblocks and assist local police.
Low humidity and temperatures in the 90s helped the fire grow. Those conditions were expected to remain throughout the week.
In California, a fire that destroyed 13 homes and 18 outbuildings in Kern County was contained Tuesday and crews were close to ringing a smaller fire near Santa Barbara. However, Southern California remained under an extreme fire threat because of drought and baking heat.
