SPANISH FORK, Utah -- Cattle ranchers are still struggling to find their livestock while firefighters have the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain Fires almost contained.
Seventy-four year old Eldon Neves said he still has 60 cattle missing and he’s been riding up the canyon looking for them, even when the fire was blazing by.
“Fire just coming over the ridge at you,” Neves said. “You just know that you could always get away. If you have a good horse, you could outrun a fire.”
Neves said he’s already found 30 cows dead, at an estimated cost of more than $250,000.
“I’m going to have to decide how I’m going to survive through the winter,” Neves said. “I’m going to have to make some hard decisions on what we’re going to have to do in order to survive.”
Looking at the burn scar, Neves said it’s going to take years to recover from both the Coal Hollow and Pole Creek Fire that burned through the area.
“I’m 74 years old and I’m not going to see a lot of this, ever, because it’s just not going to come back in time,” he said.
