Trailer loses tire, sparks 7 fires in Tooele County


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TOOELE — Crews had their hands full Monday afternoon with seven separate but connected fires in remote Tooele County as state firefighters warned about increasingly dangerous fire conditions in the dry air and blistering triple-digit temperatures.

Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands spokesman Jason Curry said it’s believed a trailer lost a tire and repeatedly threw sparks from state Route 36 into the surrounding brush.

“With these conditions, we can’t afford to have any human-caused fires,” Curry said. “We want everybody to be super careful.”

Firefighters’ initial estimates were that the seven fires burned close to a combined 30 acres.

“Whether it’s dragging chains, target shooting — anything that creates a small spark or small fragment of hot metal is very likely to cause an ignition,” Curry said. “Things are dried out. Cheatgrass is cured. Native grasses are well on their way and getting very dry, very yellow and, therefore, really receptive to any sort of spark or ignition point.”

At one point, one fire in Vernon threatened a Bureau of Land Management field station.

Ironically, the firefighters who are usually stationed there were fighting another fire in the county at the time.


Whether it's dragging chains, target shooting — anything that creates a small spark or small fragment of hot metal is very likely to cause an ignition.

–Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands spokesman Jason Curry


Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands Wasatch Front-area fire management officer David Vickers was trying to assess how far the string of fires went, and became the lone hand battling 5- to 6-foot flames as they approached the BLM station.

“When I got here, this structure was immediately threatened,” Vickers said. “I was by myself, grabbed my shovel.”

Vickers said he felt more confident about his safety keeping the flames away because of the lawn around the station, which served as a defensible space.

He used the shovel to divert the flames around the property — which included a propane tank and trailer on its east side — while checking on the building itself to make sure embers weren’t getting caught and catching fire.

“I wasn’t worried so much about the propane tank if I could keep the flames off of it,” Vickers said. “[I] wasn’t nervous for me — was just hoping I didn’t lose anything of value.”

Vickers said more firefighters eventually arrived with water resources and put the fire down.

Firefighters urged caution to all after the series of fires that didn’t take all that much to spark.

“What’s green now will turn brown and will burn,” Vickers said.

Curry also cautioned about the use of fireworks in the hot-and-dry conditions heading up to the July Fourth holiday.

He warned fireworks can’t be legally lit until July 1, and people should check their local fire restrictions first.

“Buy all the fireworks you want, but just remember — there are restrictions,” Curry said. “Make sure you use them safely.”

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