PARLEYS CANYON, Utah, Aug. 16, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Sunday night brought more good news about the Parleys Canyon Fire.
On Sunday afternoon, the word went out that new and more accurate measurements had shown the wildfire was at 619 acres — a lot smaller than the 2,500 to 3,000 acres estimated Saturday night.
Then around 9 p.m., Utah Fire Info tweeted, “Crews on #ParleysCanyonFire made great progress today. Fire is now 10% contained.”
Multiple helicopters were dropping water on the blaze throughout the day to help the ground crews working the fire’s perimeter.
“An infrared flight has been requested overnight to map today’s new acreage,” the Sunday night tweet said.
Utah Fire Info reported that the fire was determined to be caused by equipment, when “a catalytic convertor in poor working order ejected hot particles along the roadside.”
A mandatory evacuation order was issued Saturday, affecting an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 homes in the communities of Summit Park, Pine Brook, Lambs Canyon, and Mill Creek. At the time, the wildfire was spreading rapidly and threatening structures in the area.
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that it was hoped the evacuation order could be lifted Tuesday morning. It isn’t known if the new information about the size of the fire and the progress on containment will change that.
Gephardt Daily will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
