The Rocky Canyon Fire has burned more than 14,600 acres in Summit and Morgan counties. It was 23% contained Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Over 500 people have evacuated due to the fire. Others watched the firefighting from Henefer’s Main Street Tuesday, like 85-year-old Kent Nichols, who sat in his garage with binoculars.
“Can you see the smoke off the flames?” he said, pointing to the mountains. “It’s starting to work. They’re starting to work it down to the left, and they’re doing a crackerjack of a job, those helicopters.”
He said the fire was scary at first. He’s never seen one so close to home.
“There was a good size one up in the Echo area a couple of years ago, but nothing to match this,” he said. “Nowhere close.”
Richelle Lowe, 34, who lives on the east side of Main Street, has also never seen a fire like this one. She stayed behind to care for her 14 animals while getting her 4-year-old daughter to safety each night.
“Being at the mercy of the wind, and praying it doesn’t take everything you love, it’s been really hard,” she said. “You see it happen to everyone else and you never think it’ll happen to you.”
She described the fire as “world-rocking.”
“When we got that first evacuation, when the system went kind of wonky, it was pure terror,” she said. “Because I’ll admit, I wasn’t ready.”
Lowe quickly gathered important documents, her child’s seizure medication and a change of clothes. She said all her daughter wanted was a blanket and a stuffed Minnie Mouse.
“Putting her in the car, telling her I loved her, not knowing the outcome … at the end of the day, her and my animals are all I’ve got,” Lowe said.
U.S. Forest Service fire incident manager Sierra Hellstrom estimated over 300 people were fighting the fire Tuesday afternoon.
Years of drought, plus this year’s record warmth, have combined for a dangerous fire season in Utah.
Hellstrom said Tuesday brought strong winds but no rain to the flames.
“We’ve seen a really big uptick in fire behavior, especially up over on this northeast corner, closest to Henefer,” she said. “Having said that, it’s actually pushing it up into the cliffy area and away from the community, so we feel really good about protection and defense of the community.”
Helicopters carried more firefighters and supplies to the area throughout the day.
Containment so far has been on the Morgan County side of the fire; Hellstrom said crews are working hard to protect homes in Summit County.
She urges residents to rely on official sources including Utah Fire Info and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office for wildfire and evacuation information.
No structures have been reported lost so far. However, Hellstrom said crews are unclear about structures in difficult-to-access areas within the fire perimeter.
The Rocky Canyon Fire was human-caused, but details remain under investigation.
