SARATOGA SPRINGS — Firefighters contained a fast-moving fire sparked by a target shooter late Sunday, but not before the blaze torched approximately 225 acres.

The blaze at the base of Lake Mountain began about 9 p.m. Sunday, Saratoga Springs Fire Chief Jess Campbell said, prompting a response from about 80 firefighters from several jurisdictions.

The fire was fully contained Monday, and Campbell hopes crews will have it extinguished by noon Tuesday.

That goal is dependent on weather, Campbell noted, as high winds posed a challenge Monday, but the possibility of precipitation could help crews fight the flames.

The target shooter responsible for the blaze reported the fire to police and waited at the scene for officials, Campbell said. It is believed the shooter was using "tracer rounds," which have an incendiary effect to make their trajectory visible when fired.

Investigators are working to discover the exact ignition point of the fire and determine whether the shooter was within Saratoga Springs city limits at the time, Campbell said. The department will review whether to seek financial damages from the shooter.

"My word of caution or recommendation is, if you're target shooting, seek legitimate gun ranges," Campbell said. Even with no structures damaged, "(Fires) are extremely expensive to combat and it's quite a burden on all the taxpayers, not to mention the safety and dangers to people's property and firefighters' lives."

Crews kept fire trucks positioned by homes in a nearby subdivision in case the flames shifted, Campbell said, but ultimately the area was never threatened. However, firefighters had to take quick action to cut off the fire before it reached a warehouse for Dyno Nobel, an explosives manufacturer.

"We ended up having to get some crews on their property and cut a fence to get access to the area that was actively burning and quickly approaching," the chief said. "We were able to prevent it pretty much at their property line."

Salt Lake City fire

Meanwhile, firefighters in Salt Lake City were faced with a fire of their own at the same time Sunday night. Salt Lake fire spokeswoman Audra Sorenson said the brush fire burned a strip over a mile long through a field near Indiana Avenue and 2700 West.

Crews had the blaze contained by about 11:30 p.m., and crews kept watch until 1:15 a.m. to ensure nothing flared up again, Sorenson said. Between 40 and 50 firefighters were dispatched as a preventative measure in case the flames spread.

The cause of the fire was unknown, Sorenson said, and the main challenge fighting the flames was getting access to it, as firefighters ultimately cut a fence and drove their trucks into the field to reach the fire.

While minimal damage was done, Sorenson said even a slight shift in the wind could have caused "a real disaster."

"If conditions were different it could have been really scary," Sorenson said. "The lesson here is that this is not the time of year to be frivolous at all."

Ponderosa fire

A road closed temporarily by a wildfire in Beaver County reopened Monday as crews continued to battle several other fires around the state.

The Ponderosa fire began Sunday afternoon 9 miles east of Beaver. It has burned about 15 acres and closed state Highway 153 for a time. The road reopened Monday, according to a news release from the Central Utah Interagency Fire Center.

Crews were expected to be working near the road Monday, so motorists were urged to be careful in the area. Residents of the Hi-Lo and the Whispering Pines neighborhoods were on standby in case of an evacuation. The Ponderosa Picnic Area remained closed.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Other fires

Elsewhere around the state, the Murray Hill Fire that burned 211 acres on the hills east of Willard in Box Elder County was 95 percent contained Monday morning, up from 75 percent Sunday night.

That fire started with downed power lines Friday night.

The Maeser fire northwest of Vernal has burned almost 900 acres since Friday afternoon. In a news release Monday evening, Utah Interagency Fire said the blaze was 90 percent contained and they expected to have full containment sometime on Tuesday.

The Portage fire burning east of I-15 in Box Elder County has burned about 325 acres and is 90 percent contained.

The 13-acre Grass Valley fire near Pine Valley is 100 percent contained. And the North Fire, also near Pine Valley, is about 60 percent contained.

The Sheep Canyon Fire in Carbon County burned 75 acres and was contained Monday.

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Contributing: Haley Smith, Linda Williams

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