This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Solitude Fire nearly tripled in size overnight.
The lightning-sparked wildfire jumped from 378 acres on Saturday afternoon to 1,104 acres by Sunday morning. The fire is burning through timber in the Pahvant Range about 10 miles northwest of Richfield.
Winds pushed the fire east overnight, according to fire officials. Though the fire was reported to be 40 percent contained Saturday, the sudden spread of the flames knocks that down to 25 percent as of Sunday.
By Sunday afternoon, the fire was "getting steady light rain," Jason Curry, a spokesman for the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said in a tweet.
Firefighters planned to monitor and work on the fire lines Sunday. They spent Saturday intentionally burning vegetation around the fire, which had burned through the trees in a crooked path, to create a cleaner containment line.
If the flames or firefighting efforts require, Forest Road 96 may be temporarily closed from White Pine Peak Junction to the Chalk Creek Road Junction.
Crews are managing the fire to improve the habitat, according to the Fishlake Forest Service. The blaze will remove some of the dead vegetation and create openings in the mixed conifer, which paves the way for aspen regeneration.
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