U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Brenda Bushell said the rain has helped, but firefighters must pause their efforts for safety any time there’s lightning in the area.
New fire starts are also a concern; lightning sparked the Buck Basin Fire 16 miles southeast of Heber July 11.
“With a lightning strike fire, it could take a week for that fire to all of a sudden show visible enough that we can see it, and that’s kind of what happened with this one,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” July 17.
The forest service often monitors from the air to watch for smoke.
Bushell said because of dangerous wildfire conditions in Utah this year, firefighters are working to fully suppress any fires, even those that started naturally and aren’t threatening structures.
“This year is a unique year with all of the fires that are going on,” she said. “There is still the suppression [strategy] more so than [letting] fire do what fire should do on the landscape.”
A few roads remain closed for safety, including Red Creek Mountain, Low Pass and West Side Currant Creek.
A local team will take command of the fire Saturday morning.
