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Show Brush Fire Near Coalville Contained, Burns 2,000 Acres A major brush fire erupted near the south side visitors center along Interstate 80 Sunday night in the vicinity of Echo Canyon located between Coalville, Utah and Evanston, Wyoming. Fed by hot dry grass and strong breezes the fire quickly grew to a major blaze. The fire began at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday when a truck's engine backfired igniting surrounding surround-ing brush. Twenty firefighters res ponded from"Henefer in an attempt to contain the blaze but by four o'clock, strong, gusty winds were pushing the fire deep into Echo Canyon. Wasatch Front firefighters fire-fighters were put on alert with fifty of them being called to the fire scene at about 11 o'clock Sunday night. Utah Interagency Fire Center Cen-ter officials said it took seventy firefighters, two bulldozers, five pumper trucks and three large ground tankers to finally control the fire. The fire was contained around 11 a.m. Monday and officially labeled label-ed controlled at 12 noon. Firefighters were "mopping up" Tuesday and dousing the "hot spots" according to interagency spokesman, Tom Adams. The fire was unusual in that it created more problems for the Salt Lake Valley than it did for local communities like Park City which was nearer the fire. Severe gusty winds sent smoke from the fire down through Emigration Canyon into the valley where residents thought the fire was nearby as one resident said "...the smoke is so thick you can just about taste the cinders!" ly experienced a breeze with only a trace of the smoke coming into the area. Fire officials said the situation would have been much different if the winds had changed direction. Smoke from the Echo Canyon fire could be seen for forty miles in either direction. direct-ion. Residents of Coalville and nearby Hoylsvillc watched watch-ed as the fire burned up the side of a hill and over the ridge. The fire eventually tinned away from Coalville and burned toward Echo Reservoir. Fire officials said two unoccupied cabins had been threatened at one point but it is believed that no structures were lost in the fire. No cost estimate has been made on fighting the fire. Adams said they were able to save a lot of money by not using aerial tankers to drop lire retardant. He said they probably would have used the aerial method "but the winds made it out of the question" and by the iinie the winds died down they were able to control the fire with ground crews. The fire was just one more in a scries of major grass, brush and forest fires to hit the western region. Fire officials said it was a reminder of the "extremely dangerous fire hazard" that exists throughout the state. A red flag alert is in effect along the Wasatch Front that prohibits nearly all open burning. i ',u s.ili Lake C miiny Fire Dcpai .in,... t was so sw aniped w ith phone calls that at about 1 1 p.m. the county fire dispatchers had to alert all their units to take over their own paperwork because they were unable to handle all the phone calls from area residents. resi-dents. Valley winds reached near hurricane speeds in some areas prompting power failures fail-ures and traffic warnings. The blackouts combined with the severe smoke alarmed many residents who thought they were in danger. Meanwhile. Park City bare- |
