Looking across this vast expanse, it is not hard to tell that smoke can travel great distances. In Utah, it is not uncommon during summer months to see hazy skies from wildfires as far away as California and Arizona. When these wildfires are even closer to home, sometimes air quality must be taken into consideration and fire suppression efforts begun, regardless of the remoteness or insignificance of the actual fire.

Gazing at the hazy skies, it may have appeared that the whole mountain was on fire. However, as evidenced by this photo, with burned black sage on one side of the road and unburned black sage on the other, the Sanford fire created a mosaic of unburned areas, leaving approximately 50% of the existing vegetation intact.

View related panoramas;

• Pine Creek 1
• Pine Creek 2