A 15-acre fire continues to burn in American Fork Canyon following a freak explosion of a utility task vehicle Sunday.

Three people were injured in the explosion and blaze, including a 7-year-old girl who was reported to be in serious condition at the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City. She received second-degree burns over 40 percent of her body as a result the off-terrain vehicle explosion.

The fire started in the Mineral Flats area of American Fork Canyon and has been identified as the Major Evans fire, according to Lone Peak Fire Battlion Chief Joseph McRae.

The young girl, her mother and 3-year-old sibling were all riding the UTV between the Major Evans and Mary Ellen gulches north of Forest Road 085 when the vehicle exploded.

“It didn’t flip over or crash,” McRae said. “It just exploded.”

All three individuals were originally taken to American Fork Hospital in a private vehicle, with the 7-year-old later transported to the burn unit in Salt Lake City. Officials with the University of Utah Burn Center and its media relations department were contacted Monday but could not offer any additional details, as their offices were closed for the Pioneer Day holiday observance. 

Back on the mountain, there are three 20-man crews fighting the steep-terrain fire, with help from two helicopters with water buckets, said Kathy Jo Pollock with the National Forest Service.

Crews on Monday were circling the entire fire with hoses to spray water on the fire. They hope for some containment by late Monday or early Tuesday.

“It (the fire) may creep around and put up a little smoke people can see,” Pollock said. “The rocky areas it is burning in are a kind of fire barrier.”

Pollock said some campers were asked to leave the area for safety purposes, but there are Pioneer Day holiday campers who remain at the Granite Flats campground not far away.

McRae said the UTV involved in the incident was basically a charred carcass, and officials are still trying to find the make and model of the vehicle. He did not want to speculate, but did note one manufacturer has a recall on such vehicles.

Polaris, a company that makes UTV vehicles, has a recall on its RZR 900 and 1000 off-road UTVs that were manufactured since 2013 for “thermal related incidents.”

McRae noted that was exactly what happened Sunday.

The fire remains under investigation by the Lone Peak Fire Department.