Hundreds gather for community meeting on Dollar Ridge Fire

DUCHESNE, Utah – Those looking for answers on the Dollar Ridge Fire found a standing room-only crowd at Duchesne High School Thursday night, as fire managers and community leaders assured evacuees and property owners they had their safety and property in mind.

“Things can happen and they can happen quickly,” said Duchesne County Sheriff David Boren. “We don’t want to get caught behind the line and we don’t want you to get caught behind the line.”

Boren said two deputies had a close call as they tried to make sure cabins were evacuated.

“They got caught behind the fire line, the fire rolled in behind them and they got stranded, had to evacuate their vehicles, had to hike a real steep ridge and got picked up by a couple other deputies,” Boren said.

The sheriff alluded to additional potential evacuations east of Current Creek Road, noting that they could be the fourth set of evacuations from the fire.

“I hope we don’t have to do that,” Boren said. “We’re crossing our fingers that they can hold the line there and us not having a problem.”

Fire incident manager Tony DeMasters said 500 acres had already burned north of U.S. 40.

Earlier in the day, firefighters confirmed 90 homes and cabins had been destroyed. Hundreds more remained evacuated in the 42,000 acre fire.

Related: West Valley family loses cabin in Dollar Ridge Fire

“This thing has the ability to move all directions at any given time,” DeMasters said.

Rick Stevenson said he believed his cabin, which housed 27 years of memories, had likely burned up in the fire.

“That’s the hardest part is not knowing and just wondering if it’s all gone, if it’s by some miracle chance that they got an air drop on it or something like that,” he said.

Wendi DeMille, who also has a cabin in the affected area, said it’s been difficult to watch from distance.

“This is their lives going up in flames and this is their memories,” DeMille said. “It’s sickening. It just turns my stomach.”