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Fighting the ‘Black Mountain Fire’ from the air, until ground crews arrive

Posted at 5:31 PM, Jun 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-30 00:07:43-04

BEAVER COUNTY, Utah -- Fire crews are ramping up for the weekend as they try to gain control of the Black Mountain Fire burning near Minersville, southwest of Beaver.

The blaze, sparked Thursday from a rollover crash, is now estimated at nearly 6,000 acres as more crews arrive to help in the efforts.

Several aircraft dropped retardant in strategic areas Friday morning.

"They came up with the plan this morning," Nick Howell with the Bureau of Land Management said. "There's critical portions of fire that we want to hold."

He said much of the work is happening from the air as they await more resources.

"We have retardant currently trying to keep the fire in check, until we can get hand crews to those locations," Howell explained.

A local Type 3 Team took over management of the fire Friday morning, and Howell indicated help was on the way from around the region.

"The real struggle for the Type 3 Team right now, is getting the resources here that we've ordered," he said. "We do have crews coming from New Mexico and from the Boise area."

He said it could be another day or two until those crews arrive.

Until then, they'll be continuing air drops and Howell said as long as the wind stays calm, they could start making good progress.