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FERRON, Emery County — A wildfire spread Wednesday near Trail Mountain after an unexpected thunderstorm passed through the area while officials were conducting a controlled burn, officials said Thursday.
Emery County sheriff's officials said a prescribed controlled burn for Trail Mountain spread to Cottonwood Canyon and onto East Mountain, burning about 300 acres, or nearly half a square mile.
Crews stopped their prescribed burning to pivot to wildfire fighting operations, officials said. Engines and air resources were sent to the location Thursday as crews continued to fight the fire. The Bonneville Hotshots crew was assigned to fight the fire.
Temporary flight restrictions have been placed over the fire, and drones have also been banned in the area, authorities said.
Forest Roads 0034, 2302, 2181, 2180, and 2182; Forest Trail 0051; and the Trail Mountain CCC Trail were all temporarily closed, officials wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. They said the closures would remain in place until the fire is controlled.
The controlled fire was supposed to cover about 4,000 acres and began Monday, said Manti National Forest spokeswoman Rosann Fillmore.
"This was a particularly large and planned prescribed fire," she said. "We have a lot of downed and dead timber in that area. We've had a lot of beetle kill-off, so that was the purpose."
Officials said they expected the fire to be contained by Sunday.
