The Granddaddy Lakes area of Ashley National Forest and the town of Hanna in Duchesne County are now under a “set” order, one step above the previous “ready” order. Under the new order, residents should have bags packed and be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
Mandatory evacuation orders for the North and West forks of the Duchesne River remain in effect.
The Yellow Lake Fire in eastern Wasatch County was nearly 20,000 [19,903] acres and about 20% contained as of Wednesday.
Yellow Lake Fire spokesperson Brian Trick said the severity of the fire increased and California’s Interagency Incident Management Team 2 took over from Northern Utah’s Type 3 Incident Management Team.
The U.S. Forest Service reported the variable winds were keeping firefighters busy, especially in areas where the blaze has threatened cabins along the North Fork of Duchesne Ridge. However, no buildings have been lost thanks to protective measures.
Crews had significantly slowed the fire’s growth near Soapstone Road.
The Heart Lake area at the southwest corner of the fire remained challenging because of how hot it’s burning. On the southeast side, Trick said a retardant line had helped contain the burn along Highway 35.
“Highway 35 remains closed, and what has to happen before we can open that is just kind of the fire activity itself to subside or just for us to have an idea that the access for the public on that would not either be a threat to them are a burden to fire operations,” he said.
Three scooper planes made runs to Strawberry Reservoir Tuesday. The U.S. Forest Service noted, while air attacks support ground crews, they do not suppress highly active fires.
The Duchesne County Fire and Office of Emergency Services will host a town hall at 6 p.m. Thursday at the old high school gym in Tabiona.
A community meeting was held Wednesday evening to provide more information about the wildfire.
