The Little Twist Fire southeast of Beaver is at 15% containment as of Tuesday, June 25.
What began as a controlled burn in Fishlake National Forest near Beaver grew to a wildfire last Thursday, June 13. “In an abundance of caution to ensure that goals can still be reached safely, the South Beaver Rx has transitioned to a wildfire, now named Little Twist,” wrote the Forest Service in a press release that day. Hot, dry, windy weather caused the fire to burn outside its limits for this spring.
By Friday the fire was at 857 acres and still within the target area for prescribed burning. On Saturday the Central Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team took command.
Over the next few days, warm temperatures and gusty winds kept fire containment to 0% and caused it to grow to over double its size.
Throughout the beginning of the week, firefighters used existing trails, roads and burn scars from previous fires to create fire lines. A fire line is a break in fuel six inches to three feet wide. Firefighters remove all fuels and scrape the surface of the soil to prevent smoldering, burning or spotting by embers blowing or rolling across the line. For the Little Twist Fire, crews are using both direct lines, along the fire’s edge, and indirect lines, not on the edge.
Thursday Utah Fire Info posted on social media that the Little Twist Fire was 10% contained, at 2,316 acres. In the evening the fire activity increased slightly, and it grew two acres by Friday morning. The increased activity was visible from Beaver and the area surrounding.
Neither fire acreage nor containment grew Friday evening into Saturday. Sunday the fire grew to 2,398 acres. Later it received some rain and hail, which helped minimize fire behavior and smoke. Monday morning acreage was unchanged.
By Tuesday acreage had grown to 3,417 acres, though firefighters were able to achieve 15% containment. The Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service also announced Tuesday that a firefighter had been severely injured a few days earlier.
“On Sunday June 23rd, a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) firefighter sustained injuries on the Little Twist fire while engaged in suppression actions,” the press release read. The firefighter is currently hospitalized.
The National Weather Service predicts warm weather in the mid-80s over the next three days. Winds, though, which reached up to 30-mile-per-hour gusts Friday, are 8 miles per hour Tuesday. There is a 20% chance of rain, with a 30% to 50% chance over the next few days.
Aerial resources continue to support firefighters. Tuesday the firefighters are using aerial ignitions. These ignitions will help secure the perimeter by using up fuel before the wildfire can reach it. This will likely increase the smoke.
Area closures remain in effect. And “smoke will continue to be visible for several weeks from the surrounding areas including I-15, I-70, Hwy-89 and Hwy-20,” the post said.
– by Abbie Call, The Byway
This story is continued in Little Twist Fire Moving Toward Containment, Currently at 20%.
Feature image courtesy of Utah Fire Info.
Abbie Call – Cannonville/Kirksville, Missouri
Abbie Call is a journalist and editor at The Byway. She graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. Her favorite topics to write about include anything local, Utah’s megadrought, and mental health and meaning in life. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with family, quilting and hiking.
Find Abbie on Threads @abbieb.call or contact her at [email protected].