Crews work into the night to fight Provo Canyon wildfire


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PROVO — Fire crews are working to extinguish a wildfire burning near Vivian Park in Provo Canyon. The fire started late Saturday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of a handful of houses.

The fire was sparked by an explosion near a home along South Fork Road in unincorporated Utah County, according to Wasatch Front Fire Management officer Dave Vickers. It happened at about 5 p.m. and has since burned an estimated 45 to 50 acres, he said.

Sunday update
The fire had grown to 75 acres, but was 25 percent contained as of Sunday morning, Utah fire officials reported on Twitter. Crews were working toward full containment on Sunday. Two helicopters, three fire engines and two crews were working the fire, with a total of 70 people.

A handful of homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution, but only three homes remained under the evacuation order as of 9 p.m., according to a social media post from Utah Fire Info.

The statement from Utah Fire Info said one engine from the Bureau of Land Management, three from Utah County, one from the Forest Service, a 10-person squad and two helicopters were on hand to fight the fire Saturday.

"Right now, the big concern is to make it through the night without any significant wind events, downslope winds during the night, those kind of things," Vickers said.

"We're going to bring crews off the hill tonight," he continued, "but we'll leave crews around the structures down in the canyon so there will be resources here all night."

Several more firefighting teams were expected to arrive later in the evening and will resume work on the fire in the morning.

Onlookers watch as helicopters drop fire retardant onto what fire officials are calling the South Fork Fire. The wildfire sparked near Vivian Park in Provo Canyon Saturday afternoon, June 16, 2018, and has burned an estimated 45 to 50 acres. (Photo: Sean Moody, KSL TV)
Onlookers watch as helicopters drop fire retardant onto what fire officials are calling the South Fork Fire. The wildfire sparked near Vivian Park in Provo Canyon Saturday afternoon, June 16, 2018, and has burned an estimated 45 to 50 acres. (Photo: Sean Moody, KSL TV)

Earlier in the evening, the occupants of a nearby Girl Scout camp were asked to shelter in place for a period of time, though Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said they weren't in immediate danger. He said there were just a lot of emergency vehicles blocking the roads in the area.

About 200 staff and Girl Scouts were in the camp at the time, according to Callie Birdsall-Chambers, vice president of communications for the Girl Scouts of Utah. But she said once the roads were reopened, everyone was evacuated safely.

The South Fork area is closed until further notice, fire officials said.

Contributing: Sean Moody, KSL TV

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Jordan Ormond is a deputy news director at KSL.com. She joined KSL.com in 2007 as a web producer and spent many years selecting, writing and editing news stories particularly important to Utah readers. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in broadcast journalism.

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