Delaware Forest Service firefighters are on the ground battling a wildfire in Utah.
The 20 man crew is fighting the Patch Springs blaze, a 10,000-acre wildfire located in a remote area about 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
The crew flew to Utah earlier this week and was “pre-positioned” in Salt Lake City. It had been assigned to one of the other one of 34 new fires in the Eastern Great Basin area before being diverted to the Patch Springs blaze. The Patch Springs fire has been burning since it was ignited by a lightning strike on August 10th.
[caption id="attachment_48486" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Delaware’s crew of 20 wildland firefighters is battling the Patch Springs Fire west of Tooele, Utah that has burned more than 10,000 acres."][/caption]
Officials estimate the blaze could be fully contained by August 19th.
The Delaware crew left from Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna Sunday afternoon. It’s unknown how long the firefighters will remain out West to offer assistance.
This is the second time this summer a Delaware-based crew has traveled cross-country to help deal with wildfires.
Last month, a 20 man crew spent two weeks battling the 85,000 acre Stuart Creek 2 wildfire about 40 miles east of Fairbanks, Alaska.
