UTAH COUNTY, Utah — The Cherry Fire continued to grow Friday, with firefighters estimating it at 450 acres in size along the Right Fork of Hobble Creek Canyon during their last update of the evening.
U.S. Forest Service officials say the wind was a significant factor throughout the day, as it both fueled the flames and took a toll on firefighting efforts.
“With the winds that came in Friday around 2 pm, some of the lighter aircraft had to be shut down due to wind concerns,” said Cortney Davis with USFS’s Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
But they were back in rotation by late afternoon as helicopters dipped into Hobble Creek at Jolley’s Ranch - the same area where crews staged to fight the fire.
Davis says those winds largely pushed flames northeast, away from potentially threatened homes along the Left Fork of the canyon.
“It is not an evacuation order,” Davis said as he discussed the area’s ‘Ready’ status. “We just want people to be ready to go if the winds decide to switch direction.”
Davis notes that with the steep topography in the area causing additional challenges, weather will continue to be their key variable.
He said that had this broken out even just a couple of weeks ago, it could’ve been a “campaign fire.”
But with temperatures cooling and rain on the way, they’re hopeful they can get control of the situation over the weekend.
“With the weather coming in and the change in weather and moisture, it’s very important we get that so it doesn’t grow any further,” said Davis.
This also comes amid the government shutdown, with both BLM and Forest Service firefighters on scene.
USFS officials tell Fox 13 News they had to call in some furloughed individuals to work the fire - so the shutdown did delay how quickly some resources were able to get on scene.
On top of that, they were told funding is only expected to last three weeks from the start of the shutdown on Wednesday.
Davis added they expect to pull firefighters off the line through the overnight hours, noting the dangers of the steep terrain. But crews will continue to monitor the flames at all times.
