Babylon Fire crews get 50% containment

by Bill Boyle
SJR Editor
An army of more than 1,500 firefighters, from nearly every corner of the nation, have converged on San Juan County to fight the massive Babylon Fire.
Over a two-week period, the lightning-caused fire that started near the Babylon Pasture on Elk Ridge grew to become the largest fire in the nation and consume well over 100,000 acres of land in the Manti-La Sal National Forest.
The costs are high, with an estimated price tag of more than $20 million – and counting – for the firefighting effort alone.
The impacts on the landscape will be devastating in many areas, with livestock and grazing operations severely disrupted, and tourism shut down in the forest and in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.
The emotional cost is also high, with local residents and firefighters alike facing loss and trauma and anxiety and uncertainty.
The fire tested the mettle of those on the front line, who fought a battle in conditions that are almost unprecedented. The heat, lack of humidity, and winds – on the heels of a record-dry winter – created a daunting challenge. On the day the Babylon Fire ignited, three wildland firefighters were killed while fighting fire in neighboring Grand County.
Speaking of the conditions, Utah State Forester Jamie Barnes said, “We’re seeing fires spread farther and faster under conditions that defy historical expectations. Some of the fires we’ve responded to this year are behaving in ways veteran firefighters simply haven’t seen before.”
Adding to the challenge is the almost incomprehensibly isolated and rugged terrain. The fire is estimated to have consumed only five structures over a huge landscape of more than 100,000 acres. These primarily historic cabins represent a tremendous loss, but the overall loss in structures to the Babylon Fire is a fraction of many of the other fires raging this year.
Fire fighters simply couldn’t safely access the fire without putting their lives at risk. This required a difficult decision. The Great Basin Two Incident Command Team decided to pull back and set containment lines, many of them far from the flames. They determined to fight the battle on their terms.
Key assets were identified and steps were taken to protect them, including the community watersheds, the Abajo Peak communications towers, the Horsehead, Latigo Wind Farm, and the remarkable cultural heritage in the path of the fire.
The communities of Monticello and Blanding were also at risk. The eastern foothills of the Abajo Mountains received an evacuation warning, including everything west of Highway 191 from Church Rock to Devils Canyon. Half of Monticello was warned to prepare for a possible evacuation.
Over the course of a few days, the flames crossed the Causeway – a natural barrier between Elk Ridge and the higher peaks in the Abajos – and began to climb through Blue Creek and toward Shay Ridge and West Mountain.
The Indian Creek drainage was breached and flames approached Twin Peaks and Jackson Ridge.
Over time, the crews were able to find space to begin an attack on the fire. Elite hotshot crews and an army of men and women began to turn the tide. The daily growth in acreage lost to the fire began to recede, dropping from more than 22,000 acres on one day early in the fire.
Finally, a series of favorable events seems to have turned the tide, including the heroic efforts of more than 1,500 firefighters and the welcomed arrival of monsoonal conditions.
While there are still significant operations ahead, confidence, hope and optimism are ruling the day.