This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Crews are no longer offensively fighting southwestern Utah's Saddle Fire, hoping that the remaining columns of smoke and small blazes will burn themselves out.
The month-old, lightning-caused fire had burned 2,242 acres — about 75 more than the previous day — and remained at 42 percent containment as of Saturday evening.
Fire spokesman Brian Reublinger said firefighters created a perimeter around the blaze and are "letting the fire burn in the interior" of that area. Crews will not perform any more burning operations to contain the blaze, which is on steep, difficult to access terrain.
The fire was still burning "pockets of fuel" inside the perimeter, and Reublinger anticipates that it will consume the remaining vegetation before fizzling out.
"We're trying to just let the fire do its own thing," he said. "Right now things are holding."
The more than 240 firefighters battling the blaze, about 25 miles north of St. George, still anticipate full containment by Friday. The Pine Valley Recreation Area in Dixie National Forest remained closed, and about 50 homeowners stayed under advisory to be ready to evacuate should the fire shift.
The area saw clear skies and 30 mph winds on Saturday, though Reublinger said the gusts weren't hurting fire efforts. The area was placed under a "Red Flag" warning that will hold until Sunday due to triple-digit temperatures and windy weather that could agitate wildfires.
Officials in the area also renewed their pleas to the public to not fly drones in wildfire zones. A fourth drone incident for the Saddle Fire shut down air operations Friday night, Reublinger said. Aircraft operators spotted the unmanned vehicle flying by the blaze about 7 p.m., leading to all planes and helicopters being grounded for the night.
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