WASATCH COUNTY, Utah-As the Dollar Ridge fire rages for the fifth day, UDOT Region Three announces that U.S. Highway 40 is closed in both directions between milepost 50 and milepost 85.
This affects Wasatch County residents directly and S.R. 35 and U.S. 191 are to be used as alternates in order to navigate through the blaze.
As of 9:04 am MDT Thursday, there is no timetable for the reopening of U.S. Highway 40, so please plan accordingly.
News from FOX 13 in Salt Lake City confirms Moon Lake Electric Association has decided to “deenergize Strawberry Valley” because the company operates a transmission line directly in the fire’s path.
This will affect the entirety of the Strawberry Valley, as well as Daniels Summit Lodge, Strawberry Marina and more.
As of 9:53 am MDT Thursday, it was confirmed by the Duchesne County Sheriff’s office that the blaze is currently at 42,000 acres and is 4 percent contained.
A strong storm system full of hail and rain just passed through Sanpete County (Manti, Mt. Pleasant) and appears to be moving on a northeastern trajectory toward Duchesne County and the blaze area later this weekend.
Knowledgeable area resident Liz Gilbert confirms there is to be a Dollar Ridge community meeting slated for 7:00 pm this evening at Duchesne High School.
There will be numerous representatives from the affected land areas on hand to answer questions.
Further, Gilbert states, power lines in the Pine Hollow subdivision south of U.S. Highway 40 east of Strawberry Reservoir in Wasatch County are out of service because of the fire.
At 1:44 pm MDT Thursday, U.S. Highway 40 was closed from just east of Strawberry Reservoir to just west of Duchesne and there is no estimated time of reopening at this stage, UDOT confirmed.
At this stage, Summit County also confirms, via its official Twitter account, that the smoke has shifted to the northwest and affected the air quality in the region.
Per Deseret News intern Alec Williams, Mitt Romney visited Duchesne High School Thursday afternoon per a Northern Utah Red Cross chapter spokesman to bolster the spirits of evacuees.
Lisa Nico of KUTV 2 News in Salt Lake City confirmed that 90+ homes have been destroyed by the fire, per officials. Everyone is encouraged to stay safe and practice wildfire safety as well, they stated.
At 5:10 pm MDT, Utah State Parks tweeted out that U.S. Highway 40 remains closed while Red Fleet, Starvation, Steineker and Utah Field House state parks remain open.
At the community meeting hosted by Duchesne High School Thursday evening, many of the issues that residents had were apparently overlooked, per Twitter, as reportedly nothing of true importance was discussed.
As the fire continues to rage, we’ll have the latest information for you Friday morning so please stay with hebervalleyradio.com for the latest.
