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Brian Head • The fire that forced the evacuation of about 750 residents and visitors Saturday stretched north toward a camp used by the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday.

The fire, which had burned an estimated 1,800 acres and was 15 percent contained, had jumped out of the containment line and reached within a mile of the camp as 15-mph winds pushed the fire north, Jesse Bender with the Great Basin Incident Management Team said during a community meeting Tuesday evening.

But Bender said the team was confident that it could keep the fire from burning parts of the camp.

Fire crews working on the northern edge of the blaze saw "extreme fire behavior," similar to what they fought on Saturday, said Tim Roide, the coordinator for the Great Basin team.

Those conditions are expected to continue for the next couple of days, according to Dave Vining, also with the fire management team.

Then, a front will blow wind from the northeast, sending the fire "back onto itself, which will be much more favorable conditions for firefighting," Vining said. By that point, the containment line should prevent the fire from reaching the town to the south, Vining said.

The evacuation cut into profits for local business owners, such as Robby Hartlmaier, who owns George's Ski Shop.

"Everybody's losing revenue right now," Hartlmaier said. "This is our high season."

He canceled shuttle tours­ — some of which have been booked for months — and doesn't know how many more tours he'll need to cancel.

"I'm just thankful to this fire crew that came in there and literally saved the town of Brian Head," Hartlmaier said.

Although residents and business owners don't know when the eviction order will be lifted, several were grateful.

"We're all thankful that the worst that could have happened didn't," said Phyllis Semick, who manages property in Brian Head and is letting two people stay in her Parowan home.

The fire was started by someone using a weed torch, Gov. Gary Herbert tweeted Tuesday."A good reminder to be #firewise," he said.

Officials are investigating the specifics, such as potential criminal violations, cost of the recovery and whether the person who started the fire had a permit, according to Jason Curry, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

Firefighters, meanwhile, were taking advantage of favorable weather to conduct a "burn out" — a practice of slowly lighting fires that move toward the main fire, reducing the fuel and fire intensity — along State Route 143, which leads to the resort town at an elevation of 9,600 feet.

"Most of the smoke [seen Tuesday afternoon] is from us doing burn-out operations," said spokeswoman Jesse Bender. "It's been a really good day, a very successful day."

Crews are using State Route 143 as a line from which firefighters conduct such operations, Bender said.

"Significant thought and planning goes into any burn out, and fire managers make sure adequate resources are on hand to address any changes in weather or fire behavior," according to a Tuesday morning news release from fire officials, which added that power had been restored to the town of Brian Head.

"Crews will continue efforts to fully secure the southern edge of the fire perimeter, near the [north] edge of the town," the news release said.

Later Tuesday, Shayne Ward, a public information officer with the state Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said the operation to burn fuels ahead of the fire was going well.

"It's looking really good here today," Ward said. "The wind is light, and the temperature is cool." (About 85 degrees, he estimated.) "It's another day that the firefighters can do some aggressive work."

But Ward added that no one was guessing when the evacuation order would be lifted.

Fire officials said Tuesday that six helicopters continued to douse flare-ups, along with 23 engines and 11 crews comprising about 420 firefighters.

Also on Tuesday, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Cigi Burton reported that two firefighters were injured Monday. One suffered a puncture wound to the arm, and the other suffered a concussion. "Both were treated and are doing well and recovering," Burton said.

Only one home was destroyed Saturday, and three were damaged, officials have said. They warn that more homes may have been damaged but have not been identified because firefighters haven't had an opportunity to inspect some neighborhoods.

The resort town includes about 1,200 homes and condos, along with a handful of hotels and stores around the ski resort. It has about 1,000 full-time residents. Many stayed with nearby family members, officials said, and those staying in cabins headed back to their homes.

One of the major challenges in Brian Head's fire is the amount of dead trees, or "snag," killed by bark beetles, Bender said. Their roots were weakened by the beetles, and they tip over easily by strong gusts of wind or fires, which provides danger for firefighters, Bender said.

As firefighters move through sections, they keep their heads on a swivel, Bender said, looking at the ground for hot spots, but also looking up, for snags.

The trees throw sparks, creating spot fires rather than a straight-line burn, Bender said.

Some residents were surprised that the fire had moved so quickly, considering the high-elevation town is still green with foliage. Creeks continue to drain a few patches of snow near the top of the ski lifts.

Howser said Brian Head firefighters had conducted fire fuel-mitigation projects around town in recent years, which may have also helped lessen the damage.

State Route 143 remained closed from Parowan to the junction of State Route 148 near Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Dixie National Forest also has issued road and trail closures, which include Marathon Trail No. 3224 from Forest Road 048 (Sidney Valley), Sidney Peaks Trail No. 3210, Mace's Run Trail No. 3219, Dark Hollow Trail No. 3232, Hendricks Lake Trail No. 3249, and Forest Road 047 (Brian Head Peak Road).

tfrandsen@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tiffany_mf