The Nation - News from July 17, 1989

A raging wildfire in Utah’s Dixie National Forest roared through commercial timber toward several ranches and cabins in the latest outbreak of summer blazes that have scorched more than 1.5 million acres in the West. “It’s real close to those cabins now, a half-mile to a mile away, but we’re not evacuating them yet,” dispatcher Bevan Killpack said. The blaze, called the Uinta Flat fire, destroyed nearly 2,900 acres of ponderosa pine since it was reported Saturday, and 30 m.p.h. winds were blowing it toward the tiny town of Hatch, 220 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Killpack said crews also were battling “a small fire that’s going to be big,” due to the very hot, dry weather. The Sandy Peak, burning about 20 miles to the north, had charred 500 acres, he said. Both fires were caused by lightning.