SALT LAKE CITY – Firefighters were working Monday to contain several lightning-caused blazes in Utah, including one in Skull Valley that was threatening more than 20 structures.
The 10.5 square-mile Patch Springs Fire near the Goshute Indian Reservation doubled in size Monday.
Most of the growth came atop the Stansbury Mountains and away from homes and property that were threatened, fire information officer Joanna Wilson said. The fire remains about two miles from the town of Terra and homes on the reservation.
Firefighters spent Monday trying to secure the southern edge of the blaze to protect 12 homes, five commercial properties and five outbuildings that were threatened.
Dozens of firefighters were assigned to the fire. A large air tanker dropped 11,000 gallons of fire retardant on the blaze, Wilson said.
No evacuations had been ordered.
Officials expected hot and dry conditions to continue, with wind gusts from the southwest.
Winds from the canyon could push the fire toward homes overnight, testing fire lines, Wilson said, “but hopefully things will hold.”
Wilson said sandy roads in the area have made it difficult for crews to move their vehicles.
Roads and hiking trails were closed, and officials ordered three additional engines and another helicopter to assist the effort.
In northern Utah and across the border into Idaho, crews were battling a blaze that has charred more than 25 square miles. The State Fire near Portage, Utah, was 42 percent contained.
The fire, which was less than a mile from the Idaho town of Samaria, is the biggest the state has seen so far in 2013, said Jason Curry, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
It was less than a mile from the Idaho town of Samaria.
A hot-shot crew constructed a fire line on the town’s southern edge, so the threat to homes was minimal, fire spokeswoman Jennifer Hansen said.
Two Utah National Guard Black Hawk helicopters were assisting the effort from the air.
Gov. Gary Herbert has authorized National Guard members to help fight the wildfires burning in the northern part of the state.
The governor’s office said in a statement that extra air support from the Guard had been requested to help battle flames in steep canyons.
Fires in other parts of the state have diverted scarce air resources, it said.
Hansen said a national incident command team was expected to take over management of the fire on Tuesday.
A third helicopter was deployed against the Millville Fire in Cache County, which has burned more than 3 square miles. About 150 firefighters were working to build a fire line around the blaze. No structures were threatened.
A red-flag warning had been issued for the area, with the possibility of gusty winds and dry lightning until Monday night, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Charity Parks said.
Fire officials were also monitoring the 6-acre Mount Elmer Fire, which broke out Friday in the Mount Naomi Wilderness. Crews were not staffing the fire because resources were deployed against higher-priority blazes.
