Gusty overnight winds tested newly dug containment lines, but they held against the flames as crews worked to hem in the Bountiful-Summerwood Fire on Thursday.
“Things are looking really good today,” Fire Information Officer Kim Osborn said. “Our crews are continuing work on completing lines around the fire, but the going is slow due to the rugged terrain and really thick brush up there.”
About 70 firefighters, aided by water-bearing helicopters and a fire-retardant laden air tanker, were battling the human-caused, three-day-old, human-caused blaze.
It was 25 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon. The newly measured acreage of the burn was determined to be 56 acres, fire officials said.
The fire had initially come within a quarter-mile of the Summerwood subdivision and its 50 luxury homes, but firefighters kept the flames at bay until a shift in winds sent the blaze further into the eastern foothills.
As of Thursday, the fire had moved east, into the steep, unpopulated slopes of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
Osborn said Forest Service and Bountiful police and fire investigators continued to look into the cause of the fire, which began on private land.
She declined to discuss specifically whether the blaze may have been sparked at a private shooting range.
“We can say it is human-caused and investigators are working together on this,” Osborn said, adding that there were several unconfirmed and questionable “rumors” circulating as to the cause.
She declined to further discuss those rumors, reiterating that the matter remains under investigation.
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