Conservation crew member’s quick action helps stop lightning fire at 910 Ranch

Utah Conservation Corps members Adeline Bondurant, right, and Ethan Fergen, left, stand beside the lightning-struck tree she helped locate at the 910 Ranch on July 21. Park City Fire District crews extinguished the fire before it spread beyond the tree. Photo: Summit County

Fuel mitigation work and an alert land steward helped keep the fire from spreading beyond a single tree

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — A Utah Conservation Corps member smelled smoke and hiked into a remote section of the 910 Ranch on Tuesday, discovering a lightning-struck tree burning from the inside out.

Adeline Bondurant, one of three conservation corps members working on the ranch this summer, located the fire near Wood Hollow on the southern end of the property, close to the cell tower.

Summit County Lands and Natural Resources staff then called 911.

Park City Fire District crews responded and spent about six hours safely bringing down the tree, cutting it into sections and dousing the burning wood. Crews finished their work around 4:30 p.m.

The fire remained confined to the single tree, and no surrounding acreage burned.

Rachael Brard with Summit County Lands and Natural Resources said the tree stood in an area where crews completed hand-cutting, piling and burning work last year to reduce hazardous vegetation.

“Crews actually had to walk through old burn piles to reach the fire, and that prior work is one reason it stayed contained to one tree instead of spreading further,” Brard said.

Billy Kurek, Resource and Restoration Manager for the county, said the area’s earlier fuel treatments likely bought responders time and helped prevent the fire from becoming “catastrophic”.

The tree had burned extensively, weakening its core and creating a high risk that the fire could spread if it was not addressed quickly, Kurek said. The lightning strike likely occurred overnight or early Tuesday during thunderstorms.

“We are lucky,” Captain Tyler Goetz said, according to the Utah Conservation Corps. The fire could not be detected from the nearest double-track road, he said. “Great callout by Addy.”

TownLift previously reported that prescribed burning and other fuel-reduction work had been conducted on the 910 Ranch to reduce wildfire risk, protect nearby communities and improve forest and watershed health.

Bondurant is working on the ranch this summer alongside two other Utah Conservation Corps members. The three assist the county with invasive plant removal, wildlife monitoring, historic structure restoration and other land stewardship projects.

“We’re incredibly fortunate to have Addy, Ethan and Cedar working on the ranch this summer through the Utah Conservation Corps,” Brard said. “Having staff on the ground made all the difference, and the investment we’ve made in treating this landscape paid off exactly when it mattered.”

Brard also thanked Park City Fire District for its response, saying, “I’d like to send a huge thanks to PCFD for their quick and skilled response!”

Summit County finalized its $55 million purchase of the 8,588-acre ranch in January, completing the largest land conservation acquisition in county history. The property north of Jeremy Ranch is being managed for wildlife habitat, watershed protection, agricultural use and open-space conservation.