The Iron Fire in Utah's Juab County was first detected Saturday and had blackened 34 square miles (87 square kilometers), authorities said. The fire about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of Salt Lake City forced the evacuation of Eureka, population 1,000, and people at a nearby ranch. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
No homes had been lost, and UTAH Fire Info, a multiagency operation, said in a post on X that firefighters conducted a successful backburn operation to protect the town.
Kelly Wickens, a fire prevention specialist with the Utah Division of Forestry Fire and State Lands, warned that the fire was continuing to grow amid drought conditions. Wickens said the fire was human-caused and remains under investigation.
Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox visited the town Sunday. "We knew that there was going to be extreme fire danger, and sure enough we had multiple fires," Cox said. The Iron Fire was one of six fires burning in Utah at varying levels of containment.