Evacuations lifted in Tooele, residents asked to remain evacuation-ready


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TOOELE — A fire caused by a lightning strike Sunday was rekindled Monday, officials said.

The fire, located near the Tooele Gun Club that burned down in May 2013, was rekindled at 8:48 a.m. and had spread to approximately 160 acres and growing by 6 p.m. Monday, according to the North Tooele County Fire District.

Residents evacuated from Churchwood Lane and in the Pine Canyon area are being allowed back into their homes. But officials are asking residents to "be prepared to leave at a moment's notice."

Smelter Road, which leads up to the Tooele Gun Club, has been closed. A double-wide trailer is on the property, but there are no other structures in the area.Fire crews from Tooele City and North Tooele County are on the scene.

The Utah Red Cross reported in a tweet that 10 homes were evacuated with seven more on standby. Twenty people had checked into the evacuation center.

One evacuated family has adopted 20 children with disabilities, 18 of whom were at home when the family was told they would be evacuated. Twelve of those children needed help to physically leave the home.

They evacuated to the LDS church to get some of the children oxygen and other special medical assistance that they needed.

"It wasn't easy. We had to have an ambulance transport a couple of our kids, because we don't have the capabilities of transferring so many kids in wheelchairs all at one time," said mother Holly Gull. "We have to make sure we have enough changing supplies — all sorts of stuff — so it's pretty challenging."

FEMA released a statement late Monday night saying they have authorized federal funds to help fight the Anaconda Fire.

"The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state's eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires. These grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire," the statement said.

Meanwhile, firefighters are stretched thin tonight as they try to address at least 9 other wildfires.

Tunnel Hollow Fire

Four other fires are currently active in Northern Utah, according to Utah Fire Info's website.

Indian Fire
Where: Ogden Canyon
Cause: Suspected human cause, under investigation
Size: 50 acres
Containment: 70 percent
Warnings: Smoke may continue to be visible as crews put out hot spots.

South Mountain Fire
Where: 8 miles south of Grantsville
Cause: Undetermined
Size: 50 acres
Containment: 0 percent

Sheep Fire
Where: Lookout pass near Vernon, UT
Cause: Lightning
Size: 1,000 acres
Containment: 0 percent
Warnings: UHP is closing Lookout Pass. Avoid the area if possible.

Lucky Fire
Where: North of Simpson Mountain between Toole and Juab counties
Cause: Lightning
Size: 38 acres
Containment: Unknown

At least 6 fires were started by lightning, including the Tunnel Hollow Fire in Weber Canyon at the I-84 Taggard exit. It has burned 200 acres as of 10 p.m. Monday. Currently no structures are threatened. Flames can been seen for miles across Morgan and Summit Counties.

Bandit Flat Fire

Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff's Department reported that a fire near Lincoln Beach Park was likely started by a man who was shooting in the area for target practice. He has been contacted by officials, but no there has been no mention of possible charges.

Cannon said the south side of the fire has been put out, and the north end of the fire will likely "burn out" when it reaches Utah Lake. In the meantime, the fire could still affect some outbuilding and orchards in the area. So far less than two dozen acres have been affected.

Carbon County Fires

Clark Maughan, director of the Moab Interagency Fire Center, confirms there are two small wildfires burning in Carbon County tonight.

The Bear Canyon Fire is burning in the mountains about three miles from the city of East Carbon. It is lightning-caused and estimated at 5 to 8 acres. It is not threatening any structures. No firefighters are currently assigned to this fire due to the steepness of the terrain.

The Cottonwood Ridge Fire is burning 8 miles northeast of the Bear Canyon Fire and south of Nine Mile Canyon. It is also lightning caused and is not threatening structures. There are eight smokejumpers, two single-engine air tankers, one helicopter and one engine crew assigned to this fire. It is estimated at 10 to 20 acres in size.

There are no containment estimates on these fires.

Contributing: Dan Jessop and Geoff Liesik

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