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DEER CREEK — Fire crews are working to extinguish a growing wildfire near Deer Creek Reservoir in Wasatch County that officials said was human caused.
State officials said the fire started around 2 p.m. on private land near the Deer Creek Dam. It has since burned onto Forest Service land.
Mike Eriksson, public information officer for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands said the Wheeler Fire had scorched about 320 acres as of 10 p.m. and was moving away from the Canyon Meadows subdivision toward the Cascade Springs recreation area, which was evacuated. No structures have been threatened, but the fire was still growing and was only 5 percent contained as of Monday night.
"There's not a whole lot of really good roads to get up here and fight this, that's why we have a lot of the aircraft in here," he said. Air tankers and helicopters have been dropping retardant and water from the air.
Nearby residents have been put on alert in case the situation changes and they need to move to safety. The Canyon Meadows subdivision is about a mile away.
"We've been told we're on a reverse 911 (and) that they'll give us plenty of notice if we should need to evacuate," said resident Tracy Hall. "I'm not really worried about that."
The Utah Highway Patrol closed both state Route 92 at mile post 24 and state Route 189 at mile post 13. A post on the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office Facebook page said that holiday traffic on state Route 189 was terribly congested, and asked motorists to postpone using the highway if possible.
While the exact cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner said "What we do know is that there was an ATV in the area, it has been burned. We're not sure if it has anything to do or is related to the fire at this point. It has been speculated that it may have been, but at this point, we don't know."
Firefighters and resources from Wasatch County, Utah County, the Forest Service and the state are fighting the wildfire. They are using two single-engine air tankers, four fire engines and a chopper. Officials said that eight 20-person hand crews would join the effort on Tuesday, with more help expected in the next few days, including some possibly crews from out of state.
Contributing: Sandra Yi, Nicole Vowell
