| U.S. Forest Service aircraft and fire fighting crews battle a blaze in the Finn Canyon area near Clear Creek. Discovered last Saturday, the wildfire blackened approximately 100 acres, but the federal agency indicated that the blaze should be completely extinguished by Thursday. |
A wildfire erupting near Clear Creek last Saturday was attacked by United States Forest Service crews as soon as the blaze was discovered.
Late Monday afternoon, officials at the federal agency indicated that it appears the wildfire fire will be completely extinguished by Thursday if conditions do not change.
Reported July 28 at 12:40 p.m., the wildfire blackened approximately 100 acres in the Finn Canyon area. Both air tankers and helicopters were used to fight the blaze, which occurred in a fairly rugged area.
“We believe the fire was started by lightening a short time before it was reported,” explained Cheryl Carpenter of the Moab center that coordinates range and forest wildfire operations in this area.
Late Monday afternoon, Carpenter indicated that the wildfire was not under total control, despite the fact that local residents may have believed crews had completely extinguished the blaze.
However, Carpenter pointed out that the service expected the wildfire to be controlled Tuesday sometime.
“There are a lot of dead piles of wood in those areas and they are on fire,” said Carpenter.
The fire fighters are using equipment to move the piles of wood and extinguish the flames.
At the height of the fire there were 114 individuals fighting the blaze. The units also used various kinds of helicopters to not only dump buckets of water on the blaze but also to shuttle workers and equipment.
This is the first major range or forest fire of the season in the Carbon County area. However, most experts agree that it won’t be the last. In many areas things are actually overall drier than they were last year.