352802495

    25

    The Nebo Creek fire continued to rage out of control as crews fought to contain the 3200 acre blaze on Thursday, Uinta National Forest Service officials said.

    The fire, located on Nebo Mountain south of Payson, was started Monday at 4:00 p.m. by a lightning strike.

    High temperatures, wind and dry conditions made fire containment unattainable as of Thursday evening, Lola Bird, Forest Service representative, said.

    A Type II Incident Management Team, trained to handle large and complex incidents, took over fire containment of the fire Wednesday night.

    “When a fire gets to a certain complexity, then we don’t have enough resources locally to be able to fight the fire so an incident management team is called in,” Bird said.

    According to a written statement from the Forest Service, the fire is being fought by more than 200 people using two bulldozers, three helicopters and nine fire engines.

    Helicopters used water from Payson lake and the nearby ponds of a private land owner to drop on the hotspots of the fire.

    Crew members from Utah, Nevada and Idaho are being used to contain the wildfire.

    The Nebo Creek fire is currently the only large wildfire burning in Utah, but is one of 22 active wildfires nationwide.

    Bird said there is no estimated time of containment or control.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email