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Another wildfire ignited Saturday in Wasatch County, just as firefighters gained 100 percent containment in two lightning-sparked blazes in southwest Utah.
Mandatory evacuations were in effect Saturday evening near Jordanelle Reservoir. The Fox Bay Condominiums, the Lodge at Stillwater and Jordanelle State Park were evacuated, according to Wasatch County authorities. Deer Crest and St. Regis subdivisions were under a voluntary evacuation. Jordanelle State Park is closed until further notice.
Wasatch County dispatchers began receiving reports just before 3 p.m. Saturday of three small fires in the Jordanelle Basin, according to Park City officials. Fire crews arrived within minutes, but high winds helped to fuel the fires, which consolidated and had grown to 500 acres by Saturday night.
It is estimated that the fire is 5 percent contained as of 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
No injuries or damaged property have been reported.
Nearly 2,000 homes were without power throughout Wasatch County for about five hours because of the blaze. Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Jeff Hymas said crews were able to reroute power Saturday evening and restored power to residents at 10:06 p.m. Once the fire is under control, Hymas said crews will work to fix the damaged lines.
"There have been some power poles burned by the fire," he said. "We are unable to access the area because the fire is still burning, so we haven't been able to completely assess the damage yet."
Elsewhere, crews on Saturday closed in on full containment of the Shivwits and Reserve fires in Washington County.
However, the danger of new wildfires was not over as the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch covering the western deserts from the Idaho border in the north to just north of St. George in southwestern Utah. Forecasters were concerned that dry lightning could spark new wildfires, especially on Sunday and early Monday.
The 5,100-acre Shivwits Wildfire was declared 100 percent contained Saturday evening. About 30 firefighters remained Saturday fighting one last pocket of heat. The Shivwits fire, located roughly six miles northwest of Ivins, had been burning since Aug. 12.
The 3,067-acre Reserve Wildfire, still smoking north of St. George and the Mesa Rim Trail, was declared 100 percent contained as of Saturday. Fire Information Officer Nick Howell said resources from that fire, too — which had some 125 firefighters on the lines Friday — were being incrementally released for duty on other blazes.