This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Battling triple-digit temperatures, crews were close to completing containment lines around a nearly 15,000-acre wildfire on tinder-dry rangelands of the Great Salt Lake's Antelope Island.

As of dawn Monday, the West Antelope Island Fire was 80 percent contained, after having blackened roughly half of the island. Fire Information Officer Shayne Ward said the blaze, sparked by lightning on Friday, was not believed to be threatening bison and other wildlife on the island.

About 130 firefighters on the ground were aided by fire-retardant and water-bearing air-tankers and helicopters, but still had to deal with the above-average temperatures — made only worse by the additional heat from the flames and smoldering, smoky conditions. On Sunday, one firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion and taken to the hospital for further observation.

Pioneer Day-related activities on the island remained cancelled on Monday, and closures were in place for the east side road to Fielding Garr Ranch and all roads leading south to Buffalo Point; other features south of the visitor's center also were closed to the public.

Crews adopted a defensive stance at the lightning-caused Lower Ebbs Fire, which had burned 5,000 acres of sage, pinyon and juniper about 4 miles southwest of the Millard County town of Scipio. Fire Information officer Adam Solt said the three-day-old blaze was 15 percent contained, with about 250 firefighters and several air-tankers and helicopters assigned to the battle in the Ebbs and Wild Goose canyons.

The Major Evans Fire, ignited Sunday by a recreational vehicle explosion, had burned 15 acres of steep oak brush and timber terrain northeast of the Tibble Fork Reservoir. Fire Information Officer Kathy Jo Pollock said about 40 firefighters were battling the flames, located at the junction of Major Evans Gulch and North Fork of American Fork Canyon. It was 85 percent contained Monday night.

Three people were injured when the UTV — basically a four-seat ATV — burst into flames about noon Sunday. Two of the injured were treated at American Fork Hospital, while a 6-year-old girl was taken to the University of Utah Burn Unit for treatment of more serious, second-degree burns.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

Several other wildfires in the state were being monitored as beneficial to the forest and range lands they were burning.

Twitter: @remims