| Show Brush Fire in Mountains Threatens all Summit County I By fly Lily Marchant larchant Two very serious hunter caused fires raged in South I Summit Oct 19 and Oct 20 The I first occurred In the left fork of or Beaver Creek and the second I discovered early Monday mornIng morn morn- I Ing lag was fought In Middle Fork above Holiday Park I The first conflagration accordIng accord accord- Ing lag to Summit County Forester Ken Maughan flamed as a result result result re re- re- re sult of an untended fire made by an unidentified deer hunter The nimrod had killed the deer dressed It out and left it hangIng hangIng hang hang- Ing to a tree In order to get warm he had kindled a a. fire tire then he had gone In search of who knows what stated Ken With the whipping wind the bonfire had soon spread to weeds dry brush brash and the forest Everett Dani and James Dahl home on crew rest and Jimmy Biggins of lull Hill were deer hunting in the Poulson basin and had topped a ridge when the fire was seen Rex Walker acting as aa fire tire spotter for the Forestry Department De De- Department was there and had observed ob ob- served that the smoke and dust from om ern the wind were even Watch For Tor Tuff Puffy If It comes up as aa a puff putt from the ground he said then we had better get over ove there fast fut The be Dahla and their guest pointed out the fire they had seen As fast as possible he telephoned telephoned tele tele- phoned the information by the ra radio radio ra ra- dio dlo In his pick up truck to Ken Maughan who sent reinforcements reinforcements reinforce reinforce- I ments through the Poulson basin Three helpers Joined Walker the Dahla and Higgins and the fight began Rex supplied the men with shovels and th they y went to work Coals the size of dollars kept blowing past them making it necessary to scoop up the embers with smothering loads of dirt Hunter They really looked black said Cora Dahl I wondered how wondered how Inthe inthe In Inthe the world they got that way Just by deer hunting They arrived home long after she expected them and dog tired Rex was Itt 1 miles from his hla Jeep when the fire wa spotted d Everett said and half of Poulson Poulson Poul Poul- son lion basin could have been tired fired I without Immediate help So the hunters had pitched In At one point If it tho the fire had leaped a adry adry adry dry log it could have exploded and could have been lashed bythe by bythe bythe the event to an uncontrollable area The men described how they shovelled and dug fire and in commenting on the two point buck they noted that the rope by which It was suspended had burned through allowing the nicely tended meat to fall Into the tire fire They Joked about the barbecued vension but they themselves them selves were supplied with rations ra ra- rations tlona by Rex flex Walker Pistol Gone Jim Higgins had given his wife a new 22 pistol and had borrowed It back to deer hunt In the excitement ex ex- of fighting the fire lire he had Ii set t it down and the snow linow had covered It Maybe by next year or if it someone doesn't beat him to it he will be able to locate it again The fire was suppressed with concluded Maughan and before Rex was ready to come home he checked Bench Dench Creek fines and Moans Second Tire lire Vor one e eThe The second fire was much more serious than the first and it was also lliso a hunter-caused hunter fire tire according accord mg ing to Forester Maughan It Had baa Hada a real lit start art by the time it was discovered and had spread over 25 23 acres of steep rough slopes There were 50 men on It and andU if U the snow had not come by dark darkas as a positive implement of ot nature na nil nature ture then 30 state prisoners from the Point of ot the Mountain would have been deployed here Ten of ot the fighters were from I Iwas Kamas valley an and the other help was was hunters on the scene whom the foresters asked to help and who cooperated Those responding were supplied with hand tools axes and shovels Hand pumps Attached to portable containers of 10 to 25 gallons of water were used to extinguish fires in treetops tree treetops treetops tops and very hot ground fires eq SQ the fighters could get close enough en en- enough ough to work them Maughan requested area recon recon- flights from Salt Lake City Ogden and Vernal but due to winds of high velocity velo vela city the tho pilots did not dare leave the ground This last fire was very hard to fight he added because because be be- cause the ground was so steep and rocky If It he has a Forest Service policy policy pol poi icy for tor the public or a word of or caution it is that the ground Is never 1 fco so 0 wet that a fire couldn't be started in It One has haa only to note the heavy load of vegetable mulch and dried leaves leavea in which a tire fire could smolder and with wit any breeze be fanned tanned into a blaze Maughan also reminds that it Is a not so much the local people who are careless being already aware of or the combustibility of the for est eats as it Is 18 the city visitors who woo tail fall to put out smokes and camp tires fires fire |
