HENEFER, Utah — Some evacuations remain in effect due to the Rocky Canyon wildfire burning on the border of Summit and Morgan counties.
There was another community meeting Tuesday evening in Henefer where officials assured those who’ve been evacuated, “We are doing everything we can to get you back home.”
Even though the fire grew to more than 15,000 acres, things were looking a lot better — at least on the Henefer side of the mountain — than they were earlier Tuesday.
Residents who were under an evacuation order to leave homes along Highway 66 are now allowed to return, with the understanding that those orders may change if conditions worsen.
Highway 66 remains closed, and no one will be permitted to use the road to travel to East Canyon Reservoir.
Evacuations remain in place for Henefer residents, including those west of Main Street between East Canyon Road and South Henefer Road.
An evacuation shelter is available at a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse at 40 N. Main Street in Coalville.
Those who have been evacuated said they understand what’s at stake for them and for the crews working on this wildfire. That includes nearly 300 firefighters on the ground and multiple aircraft and helicopters dumping water and retardant on this blaze for days.
Garrett Nielson is with the Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team.
Nielsen told audience members on Tuesday that his team had one main goal.
“We are actively trying to get you guys back in your houses, but we don’t want to do that until we say, 'OK, we feel like this is bombproof.' Because we don’t want to have to evacuate a second time," he said.
WATCH: Rocky Canyon Fire evacuees find shelter, food, and support at Coalville church
Thirty-year Henefer resident Paul Wanzsgaard said he and his neighbors understood what’s at stake and how hard the first responders are working.
“I’ve seen fire trucks come through from South Dakota, from New Mexico, from Moab, from all over the state and it’s just amazing!” he said.
Charity Richins lives on a family parcel of land above Henefer next to her father and brothers. She said she’s not surprised how her entire community has leaned on one another.
“It’s just such a beautiful thing, and like, they were saying in the meeting, they haven’t had anyone at the shelters show up because everybody has somewhere to go," Richins said.
But even though things are looking a lot better on the Henefer side of the fire, there are still some concerns.
Sierra Hellstrom with the U.S. Forest Service said the team does not want the Rocky Canyon Fire spreading into the neighboring county.
“It’s not a large possibility, but there is some area of concern if that fire does push over the ridge as Morgan and those areas are on the other side of it," Hellstrom said. "So, it’s not an imminent threat, but we are trying to be proactive and prevent that from happening.”
That included helicopters dumping buckets of water on that ridge line Tuesday evening to try to keep the fire in check.
