A suspected arsonist apparently set fires in Uinta and Sweetwater counties along Interstate 80 after starting several along the highway in Utah.

The Uinta County Fire Department put out a fire along the roadside at mile marker 38 near Lyman on Monday afternoon, County Fire Warden Eric Quinney said.

"There's evidence consistent at the scene that it's consistent with evidence that they found at the scene of other fires in Utah and in Sweetwater County," Quinney said.

The fire along I-80 was only about a quarter- to a half-acre in size, and firefighters were able to extinguish it quickly, he said. "Just because our fire was so small and was able to get put out, we don't have a ton of involvement; but it does seem like it was connected with some of the larger fires that are burning in Utah."

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has sent an investigator to that scene and is working with Utah officials, Quinney said.

A BLM spokesman did not immediately return a phone call.

Investigator Jason Curry, of the Utah Forestry, Fire and State Lands, says six fires that started along Interstate 80 on Monday appear to be linked to blazes ignited along a Wyoming interstate on the same day.

Curry says there is similar evidence at the various fire scenes but did not share further details.

Investigators suspect the cause is somebody throwing something flammable out of a moving car.

Most of the Utah fires were in Tooele County and were put out quickly.

But state fire officials say crews were still working Tuesday night on a fire near Echo Reservoir in Summit County that has burned 600 acres, or nearly a square mile.

 

 

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