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SPANISH FORKS, Utah – The Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires were both just 75 acres earlier in the week, but now the two have merged and burned 20,000 acres.
Firefighters reported that the 30 to 40 mph high winds captured the slow fire that began in early September and fueled the current threat.
"The speed with which the fire is spreading, our teams are just trying to get ahead," said James Turner, Fire Incident Manager at Pole Creek.
Turner said the winds were so strong that it was difficult to fly helicopters to monitor the area and drop water on the flames.
The strong winds and warnings are in place until Saturday, said Turner, mentioning with the beginning of the elk hunting season that hunters and campers will have more luck in this area.
"You will see the smoke from both fires," said Turner. "With the extreme behavior of fire and the strong winds."
Both fires caused closures along the Nebo Loop road and forced authorities to evacuate to nearby communities of Elk Ridge, Covered Bridge and Woodland Hills.
Utah Fire Info shared videos of both fires via Twitter:
This is a story in development and will be updated when Fox 13 will receive more information on the fire conditions.
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