A wildfire in the remote slopes of the Uinta Mountains remained out of control Monday as high winds and low humidity created what officials call “explosive fire growth.”
As of noon Monday, the Beulah Fire had spread to 2,953 acres, according to the Northern Utah Interagency Incident Management Team. The Utah Fire Info website reports the fire, first reported Thursday in Summit County, was uncontained.
Some 300 firefighters were at work on the blaze, according to the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team No. 4, which has taken command of the fire from area agencies.
There was more smoke visible from the fire Sunday, the management team reported, because of dry, dead and down fuels along the east fork of the Bear River — not because of significant fire growth.
The Christmas Meadows campground and trailhead, the Wolverine ATV campground and trails, and the Little Lyman Lake campground are closed because of the fire, the U.S. Forest Service reported.
Since Thursday, the team said, four water scoopers have dropped 142,000 gallons of water on the fire. On Sunday, a type 1 helicopter — the largest in use for fighting wildfires — dropped 36,000 gallons of water on the fire, the team said.
Firefighters are expecting warm and dry weather for the next couple of days, with a shift toward potential thunderstorms starting Wednesday.