Widemouth 2 Fire spikes to 68,000 acres; additional wildfire smoke arrives in Utah

FILLMORE — Over three dozen inmates at the Millard County Jail have been moved to the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City as a fast-moving wildfire in central Utah threatens the jail.

The Widemouth 2 Fire has now burned 68,191 acres, Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands officials said on Monday. Its size has now increased by sixfold over the past few days, prompting evacuations in the Millard County communities of Fillmore and Kanosh.

Approximately 40 incarcerated individuals at the Millard County Jail were relocated Sunday night, while the fire also threatens about 1,000 homes in the Fillmore area, Utah Department of Corrections officials said.

The National Weather Service issued a series of red flag warnings that cover large swaths of central, eastern and southern Utah. Heat, wind and low relative humidity can make it easier for any new fire starts or existing fires to “spread rapidly,” the agency warns.

Nearly 400 firefighters were assigned to it on Monday as it remains 0% contained. It’s moved rapidly and could threaten other areas, said Sierra Hellstrom, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service.

“This fire … did make a push eastward, and has crossed over the side toward Richfield and I-70,” she said. “(It’s) not making a fast run, but it has established on that side of the ridge.”

A community meeting about the fire is slated for 7 p.m. Monday at the Millard High School auditorium (200 Eagle Avenue in Fillmore).

New evacuations ordered as Black Canyon Fire grows

Meanwhile, new evacuations are being ordered in central Utah, as a growing wildfire in the region could move toward a subdivision.

The Reeder Subdivision within Emery County, located north of Joes Valley Reservoir, is now under a “Level 3 GO Evacuation Order,” meaning that people are urged to evacuate the area by 6 p.m. Monday, Emery County Sheriff’s officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people would be evacuated.

“The wind forecast in the Black Canyon Fire area for later today is not favorable, and it has the potential to push the fire toward the subdivision,” the agency wrote in a social media post. “The sheriff’s office will be going door-to-door and will be sending out an emergency notification to known property owners in that area.”

The Black Canyon Fire started by a lightning strike within the Manti-La Sal National Forest a little more than 15 miles east of Ephraim in Sanpete County on Thursday, but it surged during extreme fire weather conditions over the weekend. It jumped from more than 100 acres Saturday morning to 500 acres by Monday, crossing into Emery County as it grew.

Over 70 firefighters were assigned to the fire on Monday, but extreme fire weather conditions are expected to remain over the next few days.

It remains 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Several roads are closed in the area, as is the popular Potters Pond campground.

Utah fires surpass 450,000-acre mark

With the return of extreme fire weather, nearly 750 fires have now burned close to 455,000 acres, or over 710 square miles, so far this year, moving this year up in the record books, in terms of acres burned.

This year’s total is now either second or third worst on record, depending on what dataset is used. State land managers previously reported that nearly 486,000 acres burned in 2018, but officials said Monday its current record book lists it as 438,983 acres.

It’s unclear what caused the discrepancy. Either way, it’s among the worst since fire data was first tracked in recent decades. The worst remains 2007, when 629,212 acres burned.

Most of Utah’s northern half remains in above-normal fire potential for August, while the risk has dropped to normal in southern Utah, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center. Monsoonal storms have helped reduce some of the state’s risks, but not every.

(It) should allow holdovers to start popping up and, certainly, if we see any new fires, there’d be a better potential for growth with the very dry conditions,” said Gina Palma, a fire meteorologist with the Great Basin Coordination Center, in a video uploaded on Saturday.

Smoke returns to Utah

Part of Monday’s red flag conditions comes from a shift in weather patterns that is also pushing wildfire smoke from active fires in the Pacific Northwest into Utah this week.

A high-pressure system remains parked over the Four Corners, blocking monsoonal moisture, while a low-pressure system moves north of the state, pushing cooler air but also smoke from fires in Oregon and Washington to Utah, KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson explained.

Several active fires have burned over 2.1 million acres between the two states, per federal data. Air quality index scores across the Wasatch Front and northern Utah ranged from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups Monday afternoon.

That’s expected to continue across most of the state through at least Wednesday, according to the Utah Division of Air Quality.

“The air quality is going to suffer over the next three days. … It’s not going to be as hot, but we deal with smoke,” Johnson said, adding that levels are worse near Utah’s active fires.

Monsoonal flow could return toward the weekend and into next week, he added.

Contributing: Madi Vollmer and Adam Small

This story will be updated. 

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