According to Summit County Fire Warden and Utah State Forestry employee Bryce Boyer, even though Summit County fire crews assisted in extinguishing the fire, Summit County incurred no cost.
"The entire cost is going to go to Wasatch County and the Utah State Forestry Department," he said. "We are estimating that the cost of crews, equipment and damage came to about $220,000."
Boyer added if all the local fire departments had not joined forces and worked together as well as they did, the cost could have been significantly more.
"North Summit, South Summit, Utah Forestry and Park City Fire Departments all responded immediately with well-trained crews that worked quickly to contain the blaze," he said. "We have a mutual aid agreement with Wasatch County that says we will help them in these situations and they will help us. Even though we used Summit County personnel and equipment, Wasatch County and the state will reimburse us for our time."
Boyer said he was in charge of controlling the north end of the fire and making sure it didn't spread into Summit County. The 550-acre fire came within 60 yards of the boundary and Boyer said if the crews had not responded immediately, it could have become a much larger problem for the county.
"Even if the fire had spread just a few yards into the county, the cost could have added up quickly," he said. "About an hour into the fire Wasatch County knew they needed more resources and all the Summit County fire departments responded right away. They put my crew on the north end of the fire and Park City Fire Department on the other end protecting the structures. Some of us were there until Monday evening."
Wasatch County Fire Department Public Information Officer Janet Carson said one crew was still on scene Thursday afternoon extinguishing hotspots.
"We will probably keep a few firefighters on the ground for the next week checking for hotspots and making sure nothing flares up," she said, adding that Wasatch County was grateful for everyone's help to extinguish the flames.
"We fought the fire very aggressively and brought in all of our resources and all the surrounding entities," she said. "It was a very coordinated effort."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and Carson said they may never have a final answer.
"A lot of people have called and told us it started as six small grass fires right along U.S. 40 westbound so we think it was a vehicle that caused it," she said, adding they have ruled out arson.
Boyer agreed with Carson, adding that it could have been caused by a diesel truck that was carrying a heavy load or by a car that had a chain dragging on the ground causing sparks to fly.
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