Provo • Before Robert Lyman set his lighter to a wood pile that would end up burning out of control and torching 71,000 acres in Brian Head, he had tried to take some precautions.
He had two buckets of water nearby and a hose fed from a spring was at the ready. He had raked away debris and wet the ground beforehand — the things that officials say should be done before trying to ignite burn piles.
Within five minutes, the flames had grown out of control and started what was dubbed the Brian Head Fire, a June 2017 blaze that torched 13 homes and forced about 1,500 people to evacuate across Iron and Garfield counties.