Crews cleaning up after North Cottonwood Fire

Crews clearing hot-spots along SR 101.

HYRUM – Crews continued to clean-up Wednesday, from the North Cottonwood Fire, in Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

Cache County Fire Warden, Craig Pettigrew said Logan and Bonneville Hotshots along with 4 service engines were continuing to put out hot-spots and work on containment lines.

“The perimeter is looking real good,” said Pettigrew. “We’re nailing all the hot-spots there. Even with the rain Tuesday night, we are picking up stumps and trees that are still burning, larger fuel that is still burning, some of the juniper trees that are laying on the ground.”

Crews were expected to be finished and released from the fire Wednesday night.

Pettigrew said the fire also burned 6 utility poles that Hyrum City would be replacing. Electricity is still shut off in the canyon, from the Hyrum sub-station to Hardware Ranch. It could be a week before power is restored.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but Pettigrew said it’s believed to have been caused by lightning.

“We are leaning toward lightning,” said Pettigrew. “There was lightning reported in this area. Our lightning detection maps, show 4 strikes that occurred just a little outside the perimeter but sometimes those detection maps are a little off. They can be off 1 to 3 miles. We are fairly confident though that it was natural ignitions.”

Pettigrew said the fire will have no effect on Saturday’s Top of Utah Marathon, which begins at Hardware Ranch and runs along SR 101.

The fire started Tuesday afternoon and burned a total of 80 acres. The U.S. Forest Service will continue to monitor the area for the next several days.

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