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Bolstered by reinforcements on the ground and in the air, crews scrambled Friday to cut containment lines around three lightning-sparked wildfires in southern Utah ahead of forecasts for an increasingly hot, tinder-dry weekend.
The largest of the blazes was the 355-acre Aspen Fire — down from an earlier 400-acre plus estimate after GPS mapping, and at 30 percent containment as of Friday night. That fire was spotted Wednesday, 13 miles southwest of Cedar City, but was believed to have been ignited by a lightning bolt days earlier. Steep slopes in the area made cutting lines difficult.
Interagency Fire Information Officer Cigi Burton said a combined force of 475 Forest Service, BLM and state firefighters, aided by fire- and water-bearing air tankers and helicopters above and bulldozers on the ground, fought the Aspen Fire and the nearby 105-acre Pine Canyon Fire, the latter burning within a mile of the former, and at 60 percent containment Friday night.
Ten crews of 125 fresh firefighters arrived Friday, Burton said.
Those new arrivals — from Utah and Idaho — had to deal with winds of 12-15 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Those conditions were expected to continue into the weekend, along with near-triple-digit temperatures.
The third blaze, the Saddle Fire, was burning in Dixie National Forest's Pine Valley Wilderness Area, about 3 miles southwest of the town of Pine Valley. As of Friday night, it covered 160 acres and, despite the efforts of 60 firefighters, there had been no containment.
Burton expected more crews to arrive Saturday to fight the blaze. She added that closure orders for Goat Springs Trail were underway and likely would go into effect Saturday. The public is advised to avoid that trail and all areas near the fire.
About 20 homes and ranches in the area remained under threat. Evacuation plans were in place, but none had been implemented as of Friday night.
Elsewhere in the West, a California wildfire that forced the evacuation of campgrounds and ranches devoured thousands of additional acres Friday, fire officials said.
The blaze — which shut down U.S. 101, the state's major coastal highway, for two nights in a row — had consumed 9 square miles of heavy brush.
The fire was 20 percent contained, fire officials said.
In central New Mexico, a blaze that began Tuesday had destroyed 24 homes and charred more than 26 square miles near the small community of Chilili.
Lighter winds helped firefighters battle the blaze in triple-digit temperatures.
In east-central Arizona, progress was made against a 15-square-mile blaze that broke out Wednesday south of Show Low.
Crews deliberately burned thousands of acres to deprive the fire of fuel.
Tribune reporters Mariah Noble and Courtney Tanner, and The Associated Press contributed to this story.