US: Wildfires in Utah scorching tens of thousands acres of land

Los Angeles, July 12

Four large wildfires burning in the US' Utah have scorched tens of thousands of acres of land as of Monday and forced evacuations from homes and campsites, authorities said.

According to InciWeb, an interagency all-risk incident information management system in the US, the Halfway Hill Fire, first reported in the Fishlake National Forest on Friday, had burned down 10,417 acres (42.2 sq km) of land as of Sunday night, Xinhua news agency reported.

Residents of the Virginia Hills subdivision were evacuated for the blaze.

Four people were arrested and accused of starting the Halfway Hill fire, the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper reported Monday, adding that a probable cause statement showed the four started a fire at a campsite, which investigators determined was where the wildfire began, then "left abruptly".

Meanwhile, the Jacob City Fire, ignited on Saturday afternoon, has burned 4,094 acres (15.6 sq km) two 4 km east of Stockton, a city near Salt Lake City, capital of the state.

Photos and video posted by Salt Lake City residents showed the wildfire pumped pillars of smoke into the atmosphere and turned the sun shades of red and orange.

On Monday, the Dry Creek and Sardine Canyon fires are still burning but have been contained by 40 and 80 per cent respectively.