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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Continued cooler weather was helping fire crews Friday to contain two large fires in Utah.
The Navajo Mountain fire, on the northern, Utah side of the mountain on the Navajo Indian Reservation along the Utah-Arizona border, was still at 5 percent containment, but officials were optimistic that number would grow by the end of the day.
"Things are looking really well. The wind forecast yesterday didn't materialize so that's kept things a little more controlled," said Karen Takai, a fire spokeswoman.
Takai said cooler temperatures have allowed crews to strengthen fire lines. The 445 people working the 3,000 acre blaze would be managing those lines and using aircraft to drop water on hot spots Friday, she said.
The Buckskin fire, burning 1,400 acres about 20 miles east of Kanab, also near the Arizona border, was 55 percent contained Friday, said LaCee Bartholomew, a Bureau of Land Management fire spokeswoman.
The fire burned under some power lines Thursday. Power to the lines, which feed Las Vegas, was shut off and rerouted through Phoenix so no outages occurred, Bartholomew said. She said the lines would likely be turned back on Friday.
Several hand crews, a helicopter and heavy air tanker would remain on the fire Friday, but some of those resources would likely be reassigned at the end of the day, she said.
The 1,463-acre Blackbird Mine fire six miles east of Marysvale and the 28-acre Meadow fire eight miles southeast of Fillmore continued to be managed for resource benefits instead of being suppressed.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
