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Two new wildfires had ground crews scrambling in Sevier and Cache counties on Tuesday, as fire retardant- and water-laden aircraft swarmed the flames from above.
The Sand Ledges Fire, first spotted on Saturday just west of Richfield along Highway 24, had blackened 3,100 acres and was 70 percent contained as of Tuesday, said Fire Information Officer Shayne Ward.
Believed human-caused, the blaze was consuming dry grass and sage brush, including valued sage grouse habitat, but no structures were threatened and no evacuations had been ordered.
In all, 70 firefighters were working to hem in the Sand Ledges Fire. It was a slow, often frustrating task with gusty winds periodically fanning the flames through the tinder-dry vegetation, Ward said.
Still, crews hoped to have the blaze 100 percent contained sometime Saturday.
What sparked the Peterson Hollow Fire Sunday afternoon was still under investigation, but it had scorched about 1,500 acres on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest's Logan Ranger District. The blaze was zero percent contained as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The fire is 23 miles northeast of Logan and just north of the Beaver Mountain Ski Area.
"[The resort] is currently not imminently endangered, but is the most important focus at this time. Structure protection is in place and being ramped up as a precaution," Fire Information Officer MaryEllen Fitzgerald stated.
Crews were monitoring and protecting Beaver Mountain Lodge, though not "eminently threatened," as a precaution. Winds, though, shifted the fire away from the structure Tuesday afternoon.
The Peterson Hollow Fire is one of five active blazes on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; the other four are being allowed to burn as beneficial to clearing away accumulated undergrowth and dead timber.
About 160 firefighters were battling the blaze, aided by a fleet of air tankers and helicopters. Hot, dry and occasionally windy weather continue to challenge efforts to hem in the flames.
— Reporter Courtney Tanner contributed to this report
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