Pole Creek Fire jumps Highway 6, New Evacuations Ordered

SPANISH FORK, Utah – The Pole Creek Fire spread across Highway 6 Sunday afternoon, triggering new mandatory evacuations north of the highway.

Firefighters in Utah County dealt with difficult weather as they battled the flames. There was a red flag warning in effect as gusty winds blew out of the southwest, pushing the flames north.

Firefighters hoped to stop the fire from spreading across Highway 6, but around 2:00, burning debris fell on the north side, starting new fires. Officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Diamond Fork and Sheep Creek and closed Highway 6.

The priority for firefighters on the Pole Creek Fire Sunday afternoon is to get the fire on the north side of the highway under control. They are also watching flames that are approaching the Covered Bridge community.

“We do have personnel in the Covered Bridge area looking to see what we can do there. Little bit concerned with this increased activity on the northern edge, that might continue the fire spreading toward that particular subdivision, so we’ve got folks out there assessing and looking and trying to take some actions to keep that from happening,” said Evens Kuo, deputy incident commander for the Pole Creek Fire.

The Bald Mountain Fire saw less growth than firefighters anticipated from Saturday into Sunday. Officials said firefighters were working on bulldozer lines along the west and south sides of the fire.

So far, the fire has not made it past lines protecting homes in the Elk Ridge and Woodland Hills communities.