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Fire Continues to Burn Near Alpine

Update 3:40 p.m. July 4, 2012

U.S. Forest Service updates size of burn area. They say the fire has now burned 1993 acres but is still growing and is 5% contained.

Update 12:35 p.m. July 4, 2012

Firefighters continue to fight the wildfire known as the Quail fire in the mountains near Alpine, Utah this morning. The fire is still at 0% containment but residents living south of 300 N and west of  Oak Hills in Alpine have been allowed to return to their homes. All other evacuation orders still stand. 

The Quail fire's public information officer, Cami Lee, says the north side of the fire did quiet down overnight but their main concern is still protecting homes and crew.

"The main focus is on the bottom where the homes are," she says. "And then we're also trying to anchor the fire so that it doesn't spread any further south but kind of goes up so that we can get more control on it."

Due to high winds and dry conditions weather officials have declared today a red flag fire danger day. Lee says these conditions mixed with the difficult terrain make fighting the fire that much more complicated and dangerous.

"We have a lot of canyons and those can kind of funnel the heat up so it's a major safety concern with having crews there. We have no roads going up to where this fire is on the steep mountain. It's very rocky, steep terrain for crews to go up there so it is producing some challenges," Lee says.

National Guard helicopters and other contracted planes continue to be the main tool for fighting the fire and dousing hot spots. The fire has now been upgraded from a type 3 incident, where local city and state agencies are in command, to a type 2 incident, where Federal authorities take command. Those crews are expected to arrive today and take over command by tomorrow.

Evacuation Map as of 12:30 p.m. July 4, 2012:


View Quail Fire Map in a larger map

Update 9:54 p.m. July 3, 2012

Fire officials estimate Quail Fire has burned 5000 acres and is 0% contained. Latest map of evacuation area can be found here: http://t.co/sAsgHQM7

Update 9:00 p.m. July 3, 2012

Alpine Mayor says 500 homes have been evacuated. Fire still burning. 

Update 5:21 p.m. July 3, 2012

Lone Peak police say they have evacuated more than 80 homes in Alpine. They also say that only one structure, a barn, has burned down so far. SR-92 in American Fork canyon is also now closed.

Update 4:31 p.m. July 3, 2012

Lone Peak firefighters say they are now working on evacuating people from American Fork canyon and other recreation areas nearby.

Update 4:13 p.m. July 3, 2012

Lone Peak Police have ordered the evacuation of the Alpine Cove subdivision.

Update: 3:38 p.m. July 3, 2012

Lone Peak Police have ordered the evacuation of the Box Elder subdivision and recommend residents of the Alpine Cove subdivision to be prepared to evacuate. They say those evacuated should go to the LDS church located at Heritage Hills and Main street in Alpine.

Update: 3:32 p.m. July 3, 2012

The Lone Peak Police department says that currently there are no mandatory evacuations.

Original Post:

Another wild fire has broken out in Utah, this time in Alpine. The Provo Daily Herald reports that the fire broke out just after 2 p.m. in Alpine’s Lambert Park. Reports from people living near the fire say that some homes have already been affected and that it is spreading quickly but it is unclear at the moment the complete extent of the fire or what kind of damage has occurred.

Governor Gary Herbert has ordered the National Guard to assist in fighting the fire.

We will have more information on this fire as it becomes available.

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