This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Interspersing fire retardant and water drops from the air with progress in cutting containment lines on the ground, crews hope to completely contain the 1,213-acre Peterson Hollow Fire within another week.
Fire Information Officer Sierra Hellstrom said that the blaze, first spotted racing through timber, grass and brush along the Utah-Idaho border on Aug. 21, was 28 percent contained as of Wednesday. Full containment is expected by nightfall on Sept. 8.
Hellstrom said 370 firefighters focused Wednesday on tightening lines along the perimeter of the flaring, smoking blaze 6 miles northwest of Garden City.
"[We] are preparing for a change in the weather," she said. "Windy conditions are forecast for the end of the week, making today's efforts key to securing the perimeter of the fire."
Continued low humidity along with long-term dry forest conditions prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag Warning for much of the northern and western portions of the state Thursday through Friday.
The work of ground crews was challenging due to continued high temperatures and the remote, steep and densely overgrown terrain of the fire, Hellstrom said.
National Forest system lands on the Utah side of the state line, and trails and roads on the Idaho side, remained in place.
Meanwhile, the Box Canyon Fire in Summit County was 20 percent contained, having burned 4,119 acres since being first spotted on July 28, 12 miles east of Oakley.
The remote, rugged terrain of the fire — smoldering in the Smith-Morehouse Creek area between Erickson Basin and Hells Kitchen — has made the battle one mostly fought from the air. Helicopters continued to make water drops on hot spots while about 50 firefighters monitored the blaze below.
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