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LEHI, Utah, June 28, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Traverse Fire near Lehi is now approximately 500 acres, fire officials reported Sunday morning.
“The #TraverseFire is estimated at 500+ acres,” said a tweet from Utah Fire Info at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. “No structures have been lost so far. Roughly 200 resources are assigned to the incident, more on the way. Forward progression of the fire has been significantly slowed. Winds are favorable. Air and ground resources are actively engaged in suppression.”
The wildfire spreading near Traverse Mountain was sparked by fireworks, officials tweeted in the early hours of Sunday.
The Utah Division of Emergency Management, which released the information, said the suspect is cooperating with law enforcement.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued for Draper residents on Brookside Drive shortly after 3 a.m.
“PREPARE TO EVACUATE NOTICE: Residents living in the SunCrest area (Maple Hollow, Brookside, Deer Ridge) should begin to prepare to evacuate due to a wildfire on the Lehi side,” Draper City tweeted. “Please check your phones for an official evacuation notice that will be made via Reverse 911 phone call.”
At 7 a.m. Sunday, Draper City tweeted: “The fire is approximately one mile away from the Maple Hollow neighborhood in Draper. Crews are using bulldozers to cut a firebreak in the area in case the fire progresses.”
Two hours later, a follow-up tweet said: “We are continuing to assess the #TraverseFire. Our priority is to protect the homes and structures. We have all the assets we need to confidently continue to fight the fire. Residents and visitors — please stay off the Draper trails this morning, especially around SunCrest.”
The American Red Cross set up evacuation centers in Lehi and Draper. These are now closed; though the Red Cross tweeted Sunday morning: “We will still work closely with officials and any evacuees that have been directly affected by the #TraverseFire can contact the @RedCross for assistance at 1800-RED-CROSS.”
Multiple power outages were reported in the area of the fire, Rocky Mountain Power stated on its website. Power to those customers has now been restored.
The fire was estimated at 150-200 acres at about 1:30 a.m.
Updates on the Traverse Fire can be found at Utah Fire Info on Twitter.
Gephardt Daily will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available.
