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Updated: 2:22 PM- Battling fast-moving flames from the ground and the air, firefighters expect to contain a 25-acre blaze in Emigration Canyon by tonight.
The fire -- sparked late this morning by construction workers at the site of a new Unified Fire Authority station at 5070 Pioneer Fork -- initially threatened several homes. However, winds shifted the flames toward the northeast, away from the properties.
Nonetheless, authorities ordered a precautionary and voluntary evacuation for 16 homes in the Old Oak development.
More than 50 firefighters, aided by engine and tanker companies, as well as water- and fire retardant-dropping helicopters and airplanes, fought the blaze. Containment was expected by 10 p.m.
No injuries or property damage were reported.
UFA spokesman Jay Fearnley called the fire accidental. Construction crews were working on the new fire station's foundations, grinding reinforcement bar, when sparks few into nearby oak brush. The flames quickly spread up an adjacent hill.