DUCHESNE COUNTY, Utah — Crews are working to contact hikers and guide them out of certain areas in the High Uintas Wilderness Area potentially threatened by a wildfire.
The "East Fork Fire" is estimated at 2,556 acres with no containment as of Sunday afternoon. It was sparked by lightning Friday morning about half a mile north of the Upper Stillwater Reservoir.
The Ashley National Forest has issued closures for all of the High Uintas Wilderness Area west of the Lake Fork Trail (the trail itself is not closed, however), and from the Highline Trail (closed in some sections) to the Ashley National Forest boundary.
Two roads have been closed: the Blindstream Road at the Forest boundary north of Hannah, and the Rock Creek Road at the intersection with Forest Service Road 198, which goes to the Lower Stillwater Ponds Picnic Area.
Evacuations are in place for the areas of Rock Creek, upper Blindstream and the Yellowpine Campground.
(Click here to view a full-resolution PDF version of this closure map)
Smokejumpers and a pack mule team are contacting hikers in the threatened areas and guiding them out, primarily through the "Granddaddy" and "Moonlake" trailheads, the forest service said.
