PARLEYS CANYON, Utah, Aug. 9, 2020 (Gephardt Daily — The Parleys Fire is 50% contained at 80 acres, and the evacuation order for Mt. Aire is likely to be lifted Sunday night, Utah Fire Info tweeted Sunday.
“Minimal fire activity was observed yesterday and crews secured 50 percent containment of the fire perimeter,” the Utah Fire Info website said. “If the fire holds through the Red Flag Warning issued for the fire area today from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., then fire managers plan to lift the Mt. Aire evacuation order around 8 p.m. and the fire will transition back down to a Type 4 Incident Command on Monday morning.”
Exit ramps 132 and 134 off of I-80 and Little Dell Reservoir are still closed.
The Parleys Fire started Thursday at approximately 6 p.m. and quickly grew to about 80 acres, which forced the mandatory evacuations of the Mt. Aire area.
Dozens of firefighters from multiple agencies were called in to fight the blaze, including air support units using both air tankers and helicopters.
On Friday investigators determined the fire was human caused and said a dump truck dragging a chain is believed to have sparked the blaze.
“Fire investigators are asking anyone who saw a large dump truck, dark brown in color dragging chains traveling up I-80 in Parleys Thursday, Aug. 6 to make contact at 801-538-5418,” the Utah Fire Info website added.
Gephardt Daily will continue to update the story as more information becomes available.
