BOULDER MOUNTAIN, Utah, July 28, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A lightning strike ignited a ponderosa pine in the Park Ridge area of Boulder Mountain, 10 miles south of Grover, Utah, on Wednesday evening.
Now known as the Park Ridge Fire, it will be managed by the Fishlake National Forest, Fremont River Ranger District to “aid towards a healthy Ponderosa Pine ecosystem, by utilizing low intensity under burn tactics as soon as 7/29/19,” according to a news release from Utah Wild Fire.
Firefighters worked Sunday to construct a hand line to have the north aspect of Park Ridge ready for crews to hand ignite about 500 acres over the next few days, as the opportunity presents itself, the news release says.
A local Type 4 Incident Commander will be in charge of fire operations starting Monday if weather conditions are favorable.
Officials are advising the public that Forest Road No. 539 may be temporarily closed during ignitions.
The fire, which is about a tenth of an acre in size, is smoldering and creeping, the news release says. Smoke is expected to be visible from Highway 12, Oak Creek and Pleasant Creek campgrounds, and surrounding areas.
The fire is burning ponderosa pine and heavy, dead and down pine needle thatch.
No structures are threatened, and no evacuations have been ordered.
Resources include one 20-person hand crew and one five-person squad. An additional five-person fire engine module has been ordered.
Gephardt Daily will update this story as more information becomes available.
