WANSHIP, Utah – A wildfire threatened hundreds of homes Wednesday after destroying more than a dozen others outside the resort town of Park City.
The lightning-sparked blaze was among several in the West where fires have devoured dry grass and brush and burned to the edges of small communities.
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Shifting winds in Utah pushed the fire toward homes in a subdivision about 10 miles outside Park City. It destroyed a dozen homes on Tuesday, plus another home overnight. Fire officials say it also burned 20 outbuildings and several vehicles and boats.
The fire began near a populated area and had grown to 2,000 acres, or nearly 3 square miles, by Wednesday evening. About 250 homes northeast of Park City remain threatened, including some along a golf course in the gated community of Promontory.
Residents who hoped to return home Wednesday night aren’t likely to be allowed back in until Thursday at the earliest, said Utah fire official Mike Eriksson. Some were allowed to pick up pets and medication early Wednesday.
Steady winds and rising temperatures stoked the fire Wednesday afternoon, sending large clouds of brownish-black smoke into the sky. The fire was still only about 25 percent contained, said Utah fire official Mike Eriksson.
“The winds haven’t been helping out with this fire,” Eriksson said. “It’s definitely growing.”
Brenda Child was at a nearby lake with her 6-year-old grandson when she saw the flames Tuesday afternoon. She raced home in her car and ran into the house with her shirt covering her mouth to avoid breathing in the smoke. She grabbed her dog, computer and insurance policy and left. When she was allowed to return Wednesday, she found the 3,000-square-foot house she and her husband moved into three months ago untouched.
“I was absolutely horrified that our house was going to be gone,” Child said.
In Idaho, fire crews prepared to capitalize on favorable winds and lower temperatures to continue burnout operations around the small mountain community of Pine, where the Elk Complex remained the nation’s No. 1 firefighting priority.
The lightning-caused fire has burned across more than 175 square miles and destroyed structures in the community of Fall Creek, fire spokeswoman Ludie Bond said.
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