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Two adults and a teenager have admitted that they probably caused a wildfire that raged on Moab's west side Monday evening, Moab Fire Chief Corky Brewer said Tuesday.
Brewer said authorities interviewed the three people for a second time on Tuesday and they eventually admitted they had been setting off fireworks at a campsite they had set up near a creek behind the neighborhood of Bartlett Circle, where the blaze was first spotted.
Brewer said he did not know the exact ages of the individuals but he believed the two adults were in their early 20s and the juvenile was a teenager.
"We knew they were camping down there and we found evidence of the camp," he said. "Today, they admitted it may well have been them who started the fire. They said they were lighting fireworks out there."
Brewer said fire officials will "button up" their investigation into the fire in the next few days and will refer the information to the Moab Police Department to be screened for possible charges.
Moab Police Chief Mike Navarre could not be reached for comment on Tuesday night.
Brewer said the blaze, which scorched more than 60 acres, would be contained by Tuesday night.
"We expect to call it contained about 8 p.m. That means there's little chance of spread. It doesn't mean it's out," Brewer said. "We're going to have things smoldering out there for a while."
He said firefighters would keep one fire engine on patrol in the area Tuesday night, but all other firefighting equipment and all nonlocal firefighters would be sent home. Most Moab firefighters were also being sent home to rest, he said.
"We need to get our Moab people refurbished in case we have another fire," Brewer said. "We'll probably send home anyone else who's not local tonight."
That includes firefighters from Price and Montiello; Durango, Colo.; a hot shot firefighting team that was called in from Bitter Root, Mont.; and state Forestry and Fire, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management firefighters, he said.
"I'm cautious with my words, but it 's looking like we've got it," Brewer said.
The blaze, fueled by wind gusts as strong as 45 to 50 mph, at times posed a threat to firefighters as well as several homes in neighborhoods between 400 North, Kane Creek Boulevard and 500 West in Moab on Monday evening. Firefighters eventually pushed the fire into an unpopulated area near the Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve late on Monday night, but smoke was still visible on Tuesday. Residents of more than 200 homes in the area, which included a large mobile home park and several residential streets, were asked to voluntarily evacuate their homes at about 5 p.m. on Monday, and many did leave, Brewer said. They were allowed to return home shortly before 9 p.m. on Monday.
No one was injured and no structures were damaged in the fire, Brewer said.