Trail Mountain Fire in Emery County grows to more than 9,500 acres

The Trail Mountain Fire in Emery County has grown to 9,554 acres and containment remains at 10 percent, officials said Thursday. Photo Courtesy: Emery County Sheriff's Office

EMERY COUNTY, Utah, June 14, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The Trail Mountain Fire in Emery County has grown to 9,554 acres and containment remains at 10 percent, officials said Thursday.

State Route 31 is closed from the Rhino Mine turnoff up to milepost 18.5, which is the turnoff to Miller’s Flat, due to increased fire activity, Emery County Sheriff’s Office officials said in a Facebook post. Officials have not yet said when the road will reopen.

Residents and workers in the vicinity of the wildfire have been evacuated, however, on Thursday afternoon, Emery County officials said on Facebook that power has been restored to the Rhino Mine, which had previously been evacuated.

“Fans are going on, pumps are running and a skeleton crew is monitoring activity,” the post said. “Rhino Mine is hopeful that crews will be back to work on Monday, June 18.”

The weather forecast is red flag in the fire area Thursday, officials said.

As of Thursday, there are six helicopters, 24 engines and 14 crews, with 580 total personnel fighting the fire.

“They are holding the edges where they can, working diligently to stop progression, and using the natural terrain to aid in their efforts,” the post from ECSO said.

“Firefighter safety is the No. 1 priority and they are working in very difficult terrain with dangerous weather patterns. They have heavy air support and are putting the maximum number of hours on the helicopters every day.”

The Trail Mountain Fire began as a prescribed burn, but was declared a wildfire on June 7 when an unexpected thunderstorm passing through central Utah spread the prescribed fire across Cottonwood Canyon and onto East Mountain.

Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for helping us share fire information. We just wanted to point out that the fire is 9,554 acres.

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