The Park City Fire District and North Summit Fire District responded to a lightning-caused wildfire in Tollgate Canyon at about 9 p.m. Monday.
Park City officials said the fire on Porcupine Loop was contained to a quarter of an acre.
On July 21, North Summit crews responded to a separate fire near Echo Reservoir that was also believed to be caused by lightning.
Park City Fire Marshal Mike Owens said nothing can be done to prevent lightning from sparking wildfires and he encouraged the public to keep a watchful eye.
“As identifying fires caused by lightning strikes, we really rely on the public,” Owens said.
“One of the great things about our area is the number of eyes we have looking up on the mountainside. Whenever anyone sees any wisp of smoke, we’ll get called out to it, and then we can check it out.”
People often see smoke first; he said it usually takes hours for a blaze to grow during a storm. Owens added that urban spaces are just as prone to lightning-caused fires as rural areas.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, if a storm blows over top of you that has that potential for lightning, then it could just as easily hit a tree in the middle of a park as it could a tree out in the middle of a field,” he said.
Utah Fire Info reports 26% of the wildfires so far this season were sparked by natural causes. That’s compared to 48% started by humans. The causes for the other 26% remain undetermined.
