Beulah Fire grows to 1,400 acres; firefighters brace for wind shifts at Monroe Canyon Fire

KAMAS — A fire that prompted the evacuation of campers in the High Uintas wilderness on Thursday continues to grow, while crews battling the state’s largest fire say they’re bracing for potential impacts tied to shifting winds in Utah’s forecast.

The Beulah Fire has now burned approximately 1,400 acres of land within Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, as of midday Friday, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Toby Weed. It wasn’t immediately clear if firefighters had gained any containment of the fire, which broke out about 3 to 4 miles east of Manorlands, a community near Mirror Lake Highway.

A Type 3 firefighting team from the state has taken over command of the fire after crews from Summit County and Uinta County, Wyoming, initially responded. State firefighters reported that structures were threatened after the fire started, but Summit County officials said that was no longer the case by Thursday night.

Campers were “strongly advised” to evacuate because of how quickly the fire was burning, said Derek Siddoway, a spokesman for Summit County. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph were reported in the area on Thursday, which helped fan the flames.

The U.S. Forest Service closed North Slope Road at the West Fork of the Blacks Fork River, the East Fork of the Bear River, and Mill Creek, as well as Elizabeth Ridge and Elizabeth Pass. People are still advised to avoid the area while crews battle the fire.

New fire restrictions also went into effect Friday across the entire Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest landscape.

The Perry Fire, which also broke out on Forest Service land on Thursday, has now burned about 10 acres in Box Elder County. State and federal firefighters say the fire is visible from I-15, but they’re encouraging people not to report it because crews are already on scene.

Related: Gov. Cox declares state of emergency as wildfires continue to burn

 

How wind changes could affect Monroe Canyon Fire

 

Meanwhile, crews battling the state’s largest fire this year are bracing for a shift in weather patterns that could impact how the fire is burning in central Utah.

A dry cold front passing through northern Utah on Friday is keeping temperatures cooler across the northern half. It’s also shifting wind patterns, pushing winds from the northwest instead of the west and southwest. Cooler air will make its way to the central and southern parts of the state over the weekend, resulting in similar wind changes, said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.

Firefighters battling the Monroe Canyon Fire in Sevier County say they’re planning for the wind shifts, which “will test different areas on the fire.” It’s expected to help push the western and northern ends of the fire into itself, but could present challenges along the southern end of the fire. That’s why crews are focusing their attention on bolstering fire lines along that section.

“On the southern flanks of the fire, crews have been working around the clock to finish multiple layers of line construction, including handlines, dozer lines and retardant lines ahead of this wind shift,” Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team No. 5 officials wrote in an update Friday.

The fire has now burned 67,267 acres since it began on July 13, growing nowhere as quickly this week as it did last week. Containment has also increased to 19% after falling as low as 4% at the end of last week.

Over 1,350 personnel are assigned to battling the fire.