SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A Utah wildfire destroyed at least four homes and burned 10,000 acres, but officials say significant progress means the fire should be out sometime Monday.
About 1,600 homes and 5,000 people had been evacuated and 200 people stayed in a Red Cross shelter Monday while firefighters tried to contain the wildfire, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The fire, threatening the town of Herriman, started Sunday on the Utah National Guard's machine-gun training range at Camp Williams, KSTU-TV, Salt Lake City, reported.
During a National Guard training session a spark from a soldier's round ignited dry brush, Utah National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Hank McIntire said.
"They knew immediately and they got on it right away," but did not have enough manpower and equipment to contain the fire, McIntire said.
Roadblocks were put in place to prevent people from interfering with emergency operations, and some people have refused to obey a mandatory evacuation order, the Fox network affiliate said.
Winds as strong as 40 mph fanned the flames.
"We got home from church and it was like, whoa, this is getting close," area resident Jennifer Kunzler said.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said two people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. He said people defying the evacuation order were trying to get back to their homes to save property.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert went to the fire scene Monday.
"We thought this morning we'd have a lot more damage than we're finding today," Herbert said, surveying the fire from the air.
While he expected to see 25 to 100 homes lost to the flames, Herbert said, the area is lucky to lose just four homes.
"It's just remarkable. In fact, it's a miracle," he said.
