Spanish Fork • Thousands of residents have been evacuated from Utah County homes threatened by the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires. Nicole Boothe is taking in the ones with four feet or feathers.
Boothe placed an announcement on a Spanish Fork community website saying she had an acre of land and could accept anything as big as a goat.
Since the fire began forcing evacuations Thursday, Boothe has accepted 14 goats, two ducks and about 20 chickens, she said.
Many of the animals came from strangers. She held her 2 1/2-year-old daughter Jayla Monday as she showed off the animals she had taken in.
“I’m so proud to live here,” Boothe said. “I can’t tally how many people posted [on the internet], ‘We can take horses. We can take cattle. We have a horse trailer.’ I have not seen one negative comment.”
Boothe can see the mountainsides burning from her home. She knows flames won’t reach her, but she has heard that embers can travel on the wind for up to a mile, and she remains worried one will land on her property.
The fires kept about 6,000 Utah County residents out of their homes on Monday — and evacuees may not get to return to their houses for days, if not weeks, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office warned. Residents who have been evacuated or who are in proximity to the fires were asked Monday to go online and sign up for email and text message alerts at alerts.utahcounty.gov.
The Pole Creek Fire has burnt 71,873 acres and is considered 2 percent contained. The Bald Mountain Fire was measured at 14,866 acres on Monday with no containment. As of Monday afternoon, there was still no report of structures being destroyed.
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