Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DUTCH JOHN, Daggett County — Lightning is being blamed for starting the Sunny Cove fire near Flaming Gorge that forced evacuations of around 80 people from a nearby campsite Monday.
The Midgley family from Kaysville planned on spending the week at the Mustang Ridge Campground, but Mother Nature had her own plans.
"We actually were in the process of setting up our camp when the lightning struck," Dawnell Midgley recalled. "We saw it strike, and we immediately saw there was a fire."
The family was visited by a park ranger within 10 minutes of the fire starting.
"They came rushing through the campground, telling everybody to get out and get out now," Midgley said.
The family quickly rushed out of the area, leaving all of their belongings at the campsite. Thankfully they found a cabin to spend the night as they awaited word from officials on when they could go back and retrieve their camp supplies.
"The rangers were able to escort us back to the campsite that night, and then again in the morning to get our things," Midgley said.
The family says this experience is one they will never forget and one their kids can learn from.
"We were able to have those conversations, and at the end of the day, things are things, and people are what's important, so we were just grateful we were able to get out safety," she expressed.
The family moved to Echo Reservoir for the remainder of their vacation.
The Sunny Cove fire was 20% contained as of Tuesday evening and covering approximately 85 acres, according to the National Forest Service.
"Firefighters took full advantage of the weather today, which reduced fire behavior, to make some great gains on containment and continued to extinguish hot spots with the assistance of the heavy helicopter," Richard Howe, incident commander, said in a news release Tuesday evening.
