US Forest Service Press Release
HUNTINGTON, Utah, July 28 – The Mammoth Fire has grown to eight acres and has moved into an area previously planned for prescribed burning. Crews have established a secure line on the southeast of the fire to keep it burning to the northwest among dead spruce and deadfall timber. Grass meadows and aspen in the area are green and wet.
High relative humidity and rains have kept the fire from growing as it would under dry conditions, so firefighters did a test burn Saturday to determine whether it would continue to burn in the decadent timber. The burn successfully moved the fire further west, but then it received heavy rain. Crews will continue work to determine whether the fire can successfully burn out the dead timber. A drying trend beginning Sunday is expected to aid the effort.
The fire is directly bordered by an earlier, closed timber sale adjacent to the south shore of Huntington Reservoir and a drainage with a flowing stream to the east. It is burning entirely on the Ferron-Price District of the Manti-La Sal National Forest. There are no state or private lands involved. The lightning caused fire is about 29 miles northwest of Huntington, Utah and just southwest of the Miller Flat Junction with SR-31. No campgrounds are threatened and there are no evacuations. There are about 30 crew members on the fire at this time.
Lightning has been credited with several smoke reports on the National Forest in the past week. Although there are no fire restrictions on the National Forest at this time, visitors are asked to use caution when building fires. Never build a fire under a tree or in vegetation, never leave a fire unattended and always be sure it is dead out. Fireworks are not allowed on the forest.
To receive updates on fires on the Manti-La Sal National Forest, go to https://www.fs.usda.gov/mantilasal/ and sign up under Stay Connected!