The Upper Provo fire that has been burning in the Uinta Mountains since last Friday, is growing, but fire crews are starting to see an improvement in containing the fire even as some are pulled off to fight other blazes caused by abandoned campfires.
The fire in far eastern Summit County, which is believed to be human-caused, has grown to 480 acres. The fire is burning mixed conifer and lodgepole pine in the Murdock Basin area. Two forest service roads remain closed around the area of Murdock Basin and Broadhead Meadows.
According to Kim Osborn with the United States Forest Service, crews have 36% of the fire contained. Cloud cover and cooler temperatures on Tuesday helped.
Crews and equipment had to be pulled away twice on Tuesday to deal with two different abandoned campfires burning in the area, however.
To prevent more fires such as those, Osborn recommends campers always extinguish their campfires with a shovel and large bucket of water and making sure to stir it again before exiting their campsites.
The campfire, she says, needs to be cold to be safe.
According to Osborn, Utah has had 916 wildfires this year, of which 678 were human-caused. That’s 74% of all fires.
Assigned resources for this fire include 5 helicopters, 5 engines, 4 hand crews and one hotshot crew for 191 total personnel.