A fire that was sparked by lightning over Labor Day weekend continues to be allowed to burn two miles up Big Creek Canyon in the Stansbury Mountains, but firefighters are working to manage the blaze after high winds caused it to spread rapidly over the weekend.

The Big Creek fire, which has burned at elevations between 8,000 and 10,500 feet and been visible from across the Tooele Valley, had charred 1,050 acres as of Tuesday morning. Up until Monday, there had been no suppression efforts underway to extinguish the blaze.

The fire is being treated as a "wildland fire use" fire — a fire started by natural causes that is allowed to burn in order to restore forest and rangeland health, reduce hazardous fuels and allow fire personnel to focus their attention and resources on priority fires, said Kathy Jo Pollock, public affairs officer for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest.

"If we were doing full suppression, it would tie up crews and equipment that could be needed elsewhere," she said, specifically referring to a fire near Ogden over the weekend that was threatening homes.

In the week and a half after it started, the fire burned less than 10 acres at the top of Big Creek. Then high winds over the weekend blew up smoke and caused the blaze to grow dramatically.

The South Willow campgrounds are currently open, but campers were alerted last Friday evening as a precautionary measure when the fire looked a lot closer than it really was, Pollock said. The fire was at least one and a half to two miles away from the campground. South Willow Canyon was closed on Friday night, but was re-opened by Saturday morning.

On Monday, the fire burned near a grassy area about one mile east of the South Willow campgrounds, causing about six firefighters and a helicopter to take action to stop its spread in that area, Pollock said. The firefighters let the blaze bump up against a trail and a helicopter dropped water on it. A crew of 10 firefighters from California specifically trained in wildland fires will be on scene today and will watch the fire's progress from the ground. If they feel the fire is going in areas it shouldn't, they'll take action.

While the fire has produced a lot of smoke and high flames, it is also doing a lot of good by clearing out dead fuels in the Deseret Peak Wilderness area that could potentially lead to a major, catastrophic fire in the future, Pollock said.

"There's a lot of timber that's either dead or is down and rotting," she said. "If we had lightning in the heat of the summer with that dry fuel it could really get a fire moving."

The fire is also slowly burning through overgrown vegetation. When grasses and sage grow back in place of it, they will serve as a valuable food source for wildlife, Pollock said.

Fighting such a high-altitude fire could make for dangerous conditions for firefighters if additional suppression efforts become warranted.

"If we feel it's unsafe to put a firefighter in there, we'll wait until the fire is lower," she said. "A lot of times with wildland fire use it's in mountainous terrain and you have to wait until it comes down in order to take suppression actions."

Pollock said a fire use manager monitors the fire's behavior from the air and ground to determine what, if any, action should be taken. If there is precipitation and low wind, monitoring may be limited to every other day.

With lower temperatures and an increased chance of precipitation by the end of the week, there could be enough moisture to douse the flames. But, Pollock said, it could still be a week or two before the fire is completely out.

Smoke from the fire has a tendency to settle in the valley in the late evenings and early mornings, Pollock said, but usually dissipates quickly.

People should remember the Deseret Peak Wilderness could be smoky and small children, the elderly or people with asthma may want to steer clear of the area, Pollock said. Those hiking or hunting in the area should be wary as high winds could cause the fire to grow unexpectedly.

"People need to be fairly cautious and give us a call if that's where they're looking to hunt," she said. "Next year it'll be a great area for the hunt because everything will be coming up with new grasses and new brush."

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com