Though many throughout Wasatch County see smoke rising to the east of Heber City and worry about the implications of a forest fire, not all of the blaze’s effects on the wilderness are negative.In at least some of the area that the Yellow Lake Fire is burning, the fire could prove beneficial to the land and ecosystem in the future.Still, despite the possible benefits the fire can bring, U.S. Forest Service public information officer Sierra Hellstrom explained that, due to current conditions in the area and unknown factors, firefighters are working toward full suppression as their goal.The fire was up to 2,500 acres Tuesday morning and actively burning in national forest laced heavily with standing dead and down timber. Officials said it was human caused and began Saturday afternoon. Their investigation into it is continuing.    “We are dealing with unseasonably high temperatures and dry fuels and vegetation as well as really low humidity,” Hellstrom said. “There are times when a fire starts where, if it is a naturally started fire that we’ve confirmed and it is in an area where there would be some benefits to happen, we do take that into consideration and sometimes we will manage a fire and let what naturally would occur happen.”Because of the area’s hot and dry conditions for this time of year, Hellstrom said, the flames are hotter than the Forest Service would want for a fire they aim to manage. The weather is too dry for the U.S. Forest Service to try to manage the fire vs. continue with full suppression efforts. Credit: Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest“This is an area that could benefit from a natural-caused fire in the right fall conditions where it slowly burned. There’s a lot of dead and down wood from bark beetle kill up there,” Hellstrom said. “There are some areas where it burned a little higher intensity than normally we would want, which is why we are full suppression, and there are a lot of areas where the fire has burned through and probably likely will continue to where the ground and the resources and the vegetation could benefit from this fire.”Forest Service officials said fire managers are inserting ground crews where access is available and safe. The fire was active on the north side, and firefighters utilized air support and fire retardant to slow the progression. However, with the current heat and dry fuels, the fire is slowly burning through the retardant lines, they said.Crews are doing structure protection at the YMCA camp and near the gas pipeline, using bulldozer line and increasing the fuel break previously created to assist in holding the fire. Other values, including structures and communities not immediately affected by the fire, are being assessed proactively in case of further growth from the fire, officials siad.This remains a full suppression fire, but with the current conditions it will likely be a longer duration fire due to the terrain, topography, receptive fuels, and predicted weather, officials said.Fire managers are working with their cooperators and respective county and local agencies to coordinate impact on grazing allotments, logging, and other permittee concerns. They are also working with law enforcement to escort recreationists to retrieve their belongings in the campgrounds and in the closure area.Highway 35 remains closed, for both public and firefighter safety. This closure will remain for at least 24-72 hours, until fire activity decreases and the road can be cleared of debris.Hellstrom stressed that wildfire is a natural occurrence, one that would happen whether or not people were around.“We really are the only thing impeding from Mother Nature from doing what naturally would occur,” she said. “One of our tactics we use for healthy forest management is prescribed fire, where we pick the right locations with the right conditions with the right vegetation, but the key there is with the right conditions, which we don’t have right now.”Still, even though the Forest Service is working to suppress the fire rather than manage it, she said there are likely areas of the forest that will bring more wildlife next year and regenerating aspens.The fire was first reported to emergency operators on Saturday around 3:30 p.m. The Forest Service took command of the fire later that evening.Duchesne Ridge, Mill Hollow, Wolf Creek and Soapstone Pass have been evacuated.Hellstrom said the evacuations mainly affected cabins and campgrounds.“None of them are primary residences,” Hellstrom said. “There (were) a few people coming and going, so they were asked to leave and they were allowed to go in (Monday) and get some things out and shut down water off and stuff like that.”One reason she said people were asked to leave the area is because of ongoing bridge work that has left the Soapstone Pass area only accessible by one route.“If the fire were to continue move in that direction, it would be hard to evacuate them if the fire started threatening that community,” Hellstrom said. “It’s actually not an immediate threat right now. It was just preplanning for if the fire started making a push that direction.”Currently, Hellstrom said the fire isn’t an imminent threat to any communities, though firefighters are working to protect a YMCA camp she identified as the closest infrastructure to the flames.“Now is the time always we remind homeowners, cabin owners, recreationists that they live in and near national forests. Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem, and the time to know what to do and prepare is not when the fire is eminently impacting you, but well in advance of that,” Hellstrom said. “Do you have good egress in and out of the area where you would need to leave if you were evacuated? What things would you pack up and take if an evacuation came? And while none of that is something people need to start doing now, now is the time to start thinking about those things.”The post Yellow Lake Fire could benefit area, but suppression remains goal appeared first on Park Record.