Officials become optimistic in the combined fire battle of Utah County

PROVO – The Pole Brook and Mount Bald fires merged on Monday to form a large forest fire, which reached approximately 86,000 acres. But at a community meeting that followed a firefighting day, officials shared their optimism that the crews would defeat the flames.

"I am confident that they will do what they need.The resources are up to fight the fire.I hope tonight was a good opportunity to say hello. to all our neighbors, "said Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith. Monday night at a crowd of residents of Springville High School.

More than 2,000 homes and 6,000 people have been evacuated. The Pole Brook fire was confined to 23% late Monday, while the Mount Bald fire was at 0%.

Diamond Fork, Sheep Creek and Right Fork Hobble Creek Canyon were added to the mandatory evacuation list on Monday. According to the sheriff's office, Left Fork Hobble Creek has been put in pre-evacuation state.

All residents of Woodland Hills, Elk Ridge and the Covered Bridge community, near the mouth of the Spanish Fork Canyon, have left their homes since they were first ordered. to evacuate last Thursday.

At Monday night's meeting, a resident asked if more crews and equipment were on their way to help fight the flames.

Incident Commander Marty Adell, of the Type 1 fire crew, said that when the fire blew up on Sunday, November 6 in the United States, other crews were ordered and will arrive in one to three days.

"We are looking at about 400 other people," said the incident commander.

One woman asked why it took days for additional resources to arrive and how many teams were present.

Adell said more than 1,200 firefighters were battling both fires Monday and additional crews were traveling from other states. The engines are "slow" and "designed to drive mountain roads," he explained.

"I have to show my hat to the community in general," said Adell. When the fire blew up in the United States, "one of the things I missed was that firefighters already had a bulldozer line built," he said.

A resident asked if they would be able to travel more than once to retrieve their personal belongings during evacuation or if they would be "deported".

An official responded that if conditions are safe, people will be able to make multiple trips home while they prepare to evacuate.

Sgt sheriff of Utah County Spencer Cannon urged people to follow evacuation orders.

"If a person, a family, or anyone else is affected by an evacuation, pay attention to that." Some people said, "I'm not going anywhere," said Cannon.

"If the behavior of fire continues, you have to be ready," he said.

Fires met on Monday in the covered bridge area, where firefighters "are doing enormous work for the protection of structures," Adell said Monday afternoon, during an interview at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds.

"We have several group engine teams responsible for the installation of flexible systems and the reduction of certain fuels in this small community," said Mr. Adell.

In addition to the new evacuation orders, several other areas remained closed or evacuated from Monday. The Santaquin Canyon, Payson Canyon, National Route 201 and the Nebo Loop Road to National Route 132 in Nephi Canyon are closed.

American Factory 89 at Spanish Fork Canyon is also closed at Thistle Junction to the Utah-Sanpete County line. Mandatory evacuation remained in effect for all residents along the US, between Nebo Brook and Thistle Crossing, as well as Right Fork's Hobble Creek Canyon, which is also closed.

Evacuees who are required to travel home to take medication or to remove pets or livestock may meet at 11200 South Woodland Hills Drive and 11200 South Elk Ridge Drive (1600 West), where a Member of Parliament will accompany them. 39 at their home.

According to Dan Dallas, chief of operations section of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, north of the fire, fire crews were able to build a bulldozer line around communities, including the Payson Canyon and Elk Ridge.

"So it gives us a very good control feature that we feel good about," Dallas said.

He said the line will help firefighters control the fire if it becomes "more active" and begins to get closer to the communities.

Incident Operations Commander Todd Pechota said less wind and better air Monday helped the fire department.

"Our team, the firefighters on the ground, really understand what these evacuations are doing to the public and they are working so hard to try to secure these areas so that we can bring people back as quickly as possible," said Pechota.

Governor Gary Herbert went to Twitter on Monday afternoon to recognize the firefighters for their work on the flames.

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"I have been very impressed with the coordination and hard work of the #PoleCreek and #BaldMountain fires today.We have an amazing team of firefighters and incredibly well prepared communities.It will be long, but I am doing trust our teams, "he said. wrote.

"So good to see a slight change in weather today." Better wind conditions have allowed firefighter crews to do more direct air attacks on fires, "he tweeted later. .

Residents can sign up to receive fire alerts at alerts.utahcounty.gov.