Wildfires Burning In Central Utah

Lightning sparked a dozen wildfires that burned thousands of acres in central Utah Saturday, forcing a popular park to close and shutting down a 15-mile stretch of highway.

Sixty firefighters were helping battle the flames, which destroyed grass, pinyon, juniper, sage and greasewood in a sparsely populated region south of Salt Lake City.

The fires range in size from several hundred acres to thousands of acres, authorities said.

State Road 6 between Jericho and Tintic Junction was closed as well as the popular Little Sahara National Recreation Area.