BEAVER, Utah — One of the biggest takeaways near the Cottonwood Fire in central Utah on Monday is that officials don’t want to use the word “containment,” but they do seem to have a handle on the fire, which is now over 93,000 acres.
Crews have made progress in the fire fight, having taken advantage of the cooler and more moderate weather the last couple of days,
So why not use the word containment? Because a lot of the line created by firefighters has not been tried by the fire itself, meaning there’s still fuel between the two. They won’t say containment until they’re sure the fire won’t cross those lines.
FOX 13 News has been told that even once the fire is contained, the remnants will smolder for months until a significant amount of precipitation falls in the area. It also doesn't help that Utah doesn’t have the resources to put out the fire for good right now.
"Unfortunately, we really have to just let it do its thing," said Alyssa Mason, a public information officer for the federal Great Basin Incident Management Team 5. "There isn’t enough water in Utah to put this thing out all the way by next month. We just don’t have those kind of resources in Utah."
Tuesday morning, select communities will meet with the Beaver County Sheriff’s Department to be escorted to their property, only to assess damage or grab personal or valuable items.
