Nebo fire finally contained

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    By Carol-lyn Jardine

    Significant rains contributed to the containment of the Nebo Creek fire Sunday, July 8, Uinta National Forest Service officials said.

    The fire on Nebo Mountain, south of Payson, burned 4500 acres of forest land, said Lola Bird, Forest Service representative.

    The Forest Service estimated the fire damage to be $500,000.

    There are 65 people working on the fire today, July 9, down from more than 200 at the height of the fire last week.

    Bird said rehabilitation efforts will begin this week under the direction of a Forest Service Rehabilitation Team.

    Re-seeding is a big part of rehabilitation, Bird said. She said the fire lines which have been trenched by bulldozers and firefighters are generally re-seeded.

    “Usually burned areas will come back on their own,” Bird said.

    But, with the size and complexity of the Nebo Creek fire, the burned area will need re-seeding, Bird said.

    According to a Forest Service written statement, the Nebo Creek fire was started July 2 when lightning struck Nebo Mountain.

    Officials said crews from Utah, Idaho and Nevada worked on the fire under the direction of a Forest Service Type II Incident Management Team.

    With the containment of the fire, a local Type III Incident Management Team will relieve the Type II team tonight, said Bird.

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