Campers near Meadow Lake in the Uinta Mountains, across Notch Mountain from Washington Lake 26 miles up state Route 150 from Kamas, reported a brush fire around 2 p.m. July 29.
A helicopter and ground crew from the Northern Utah Interagency Fire Center responded.
“The fuel moistures [in that area] are still pretty high. So they did have it contained fairly quickly,” Uintah-Wasatch-Cache National Forest spokesperson K.J. Pollock said. She said the fire didn’t grow past 0.1 acres.
Summit County Search and Rescue and a Department of Public Safety helicopter initially mobilized since the distress call from a Garmin device indicated campers were threatened by the fire.
The helicopter saw there was no need for evacuation, according to the rescuers, who said the blaze was contained to a few trees. There were about 10 to 15 people camping in the area, according to Summit County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Skyler Talbot.
Pollock said the cause is unknown but that there wasn’t lightning reported near Meadow Lake. Forest rangers say campers should fully extinguish campfires and avoid driving on grass brush, which could ignite with heat or sparks.
The state forester will increase fire restrictions across Utah starting Aug. 1.
