Utah
Tonga’s 1st try keeps Utah Warriors’ playoff dreams alive with 3rd-straight win

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HERRIMAN — The Utah Warriors’ third straight win was never in serious jeopardy on Saturday.
But Tomasi Tonga’s first try of the season was bigger than any match-winner.
The Herriman native dived for the try line in the final seconds of the weekend’s match against Rugby ATL, dotting it down in the mere corner of the west try zone to give Utah a 28-12 win over Rugby ATL to keep the home club’s playoff hopes alive with three matches remaining in the 2023 regular season.
With their third straight win, the Warriors improved to 9-4 with 43 points on the season, tied with Houston for third place in the West and a tiebreaker over the SaberCats on head-to-head results after Saturday’s win in front of a franchise-record crowd of 4,650 fans at Zions Bank Stadium. Only Seattle (11-2) and San Diego (11-1) sit in front of the Warriors in the Western Conference with 54 points on the year.
“It’s unreal. I love playing here; I get excited when we get home games,” said Warriors front row Onehunga Havili after the match. “Everyone is loud from the start to the end. … I think they deserve the win, and they deserve us getting to the playoffs as we play for our fans and our families.”
Joe Mano and Joel Hodgson each scored in the first half, and Utah jumped out to a 14-5 lead by halftime.
The Warriors stretched the advantage to 21-5 through Calvin Whiting’s try in the 47th minute. Atlanta responded just a few moments later to pull within 21-12, but Utah dominated the front row and controlled the scrum to take a two-score lead into the final 10 minutes.
All that the Warriors lacked was a fourth try, which would’ve given Utah a crucial bonus point as it tried to keep pace with the Houston SaberCats for the third and final playoff berth out of the Western Conference.
Instead, it was the visiting Rattlers that pushed for a third try that would’ve earned the East’s fourth-place team a bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points. But the try never came, after Utah forced two turnovers from less than five meters out in the final 10 minutes.
Tonga sprinted with seconds remaining, stretching for the post to dot down what would’ve been the Warriors’ fourth try in the closing seconds.
The former U-17 and U-18 All-American who prepped at Herriman High worked his way up to professional rugby with the local Utah Saints amateur side and the Warriors’ Selects developmental team.
But on Saturday night, the 6-foot, 230-pound center pushed his hometown club crucially closer to postseason contention with a try that also went to video review to confirm the call on the field.
“I think the boys are just having belief on each other and start playing for each other,” Havili said. “It was our goal to get to the playoffs, and now we just have to play every game and fight for that spot.”
Utah hits the road next Saturday, June 4 to face the West co-leading Seattle Seawolves in Tukwila, Washington. The Warriors then return home June 10 at 8 p.m. MDT to host the Chicago Hounds in the regular-season home finale before wrapping up the regular season June 19 at the New York Ironworkers.
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Utah
State law enforcement officers urge life jacket use after 2 weekend water deaths in Utah

WEBER COUNTY — As investigators looked further Sunday into the death of a cliff jumper at Causey Reservoir, state law enforcement officers urged people to wear their life jackets at Causey and on other bodies of water around Utah.
According to Sgt. Trent Currie of the Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Law Enforcement, the man who died was not wearing a life jacket.
“Unfortunately, he did not resurface,” Currie said during an interview with KSL TV. “It’s a very tragic incident. Our condolences go out to the family. It’s very sad.”
Currie said a DNR Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) team helped recover the man’s body Saturday night from the chilly depths of the reservoir.
With that death and another death at Yuba State Park Reservoir Saturday, law enforcement officers were reminding people about life jackets.
“It’s very important to wear your life jackets,” Currie said. “Life jackets are required here [at Causey Reservoir] for everybody. You have to wear them whether you are swimming, on a kayak, or on a paddleboard.”
Under Utah law, each vessel — even a paddleboard or kayak — is required to have at least one U.S. Coast Guard-approved wearable or inflatable life jacket for each person on board.
Though the rules at Causey Reservoir require all adults and children to wear life jackets out on the water, Currie acknowledged that compliance has been a challenge, with possibly upward of 80 percent of people not wearing their life vests on any given day.
He said people could potentially be cited for not wearing life jackets or having them present in other parts of the state.
“It’s almost like wearing your seatbelt in a car out on the highways,” Currie said. “We would definitely recommend and suggest that you wear those life jackets.”
Kyler Klomp, who occasionally visits Causey with his family, was wearing a life jacket to paddle board on Sunday, but said he had heard why some people choose not to wear them when they go cliff jumping.
“I know some people don’t want to wear their life jackets for that because it kind of hurts when it comes up under the water,” Klomp said. “It’s still important to wear it no matter what.”
He echoed law enforcement’s encouragement of people to wear life jackets for their safety.
“Obviously there is risk when you’re dealing with the water,” Klomp said. “Don’t do anything too crazy, you know.”
Related stories: Paddleboarder dies at Silver Lake Flat Reservoir after helping child
Utah
Watch: ‘Firenado’ caught on video in Utah during Deer Creek Fire

A “firenado,” a large wildfire caught up in a swift tornado, was spotted in eastern Utah, near the Colorado border, last weekend.
The fire-induced tornado developed within the Deer Creek Fire just after 1 p.m. MT on Saturday, July 12, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The “firenado,” which was given an EF-2 rating, lasted for about 12 minutes. Tornados ranked as an EF-2 are deemed “significant” and exhibit a wind speed of 111-136 miles per hour.
No injuries were reported by fire personnel, but buildings in the area did sustain fire and wind damage, according to the NWS.
“In a state built by pioneers who prepared for hard seasons, we must meet this moment with the same resolve,” Utah Sen. John Curtis wrote in an X post on Thursday, July 17. “I urge every Utahn to take seriously the fire restrictions currently in place.”
Watch ‘firenado’ form amid Utah wildfire
‘Firenado’ forms in Utah’s Deer Creek Fire
A massive fire vortex was seen forming at the Deer Creek Fire close to Utah’s border with Colorado.
What is the Deer Creek Fire?
Deer Creek Fire started on Thursday, July 10 and as of Friday, July 18, had burned more than 15,600 acres, according to Utah Fire. The cause of the fire remains undetermined. The fire is located within Deer Creek State Park, along the border of Utah and Colorado.
Is the Deer Creek Fire contained?
As of Friday, July 18, 11% of Deer Creek Fire was contained, according to Utah Fire.
Evacuation notices issued for Deer Creek Fire
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office has issued pre-evacuations for areas around Deer Creek State Park. Residents in the affected areas are encouraged to check for local updates, prepare go-kits of supplies, put animal evacuation plans into place, inform loved ones of evacuation plans and leave areas that feel unsafe.
To sign up for emergency alerts, visit the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office at montrosecountysheriffsoffice.com/montrose-alerts/.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
Utah
Utah ‘firenado’ with 122-mph winds leaves behind terrifying path of destruction

A surging wildfire ripping through eastern Utah wilderness over the weekend triggered a rare “firenado”, unleashing a terrifying mix of wind and flames that left one home and several other outbuildings severely damaged.
The Deer Creek Fire had already burned several thousand acres just north of La Sal on Saturday when the column of flames and hot gases began spinning, creating the surreal sight of a firenado.
“One of our firefighters captured this unusual phenomenon of a fire vortex tearing through pinyon-juniper woodland on the Deer Creek Fire, just outside of La Sal,” said officials with the Utah Bureau of Land Management.
The firenado did significant damage as it wreaked havoc on a neighborhood caught in the blaze. The National Weather Service estimated that wind speeds inside the twister reached 122 mph – strong enough to rate an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
What’s worse, instead of typical tornadoes that may only spend moments to seconds blasting a neighborhood as the storm blows through, this firenado was nearly stationary, spending 12 minutes swirling its flame-infused fury.
“Dwellings and outbuildings in the area sustained a mix of fire and wind damage,” said NWS meteorologists in Grand Junction, Colorado, who later surveyed the damage. “Many of the affected structures burned after the tornado occurred, but wind damage sustained by the remaining structures resulted in the tornado being given an EF-2 rating.”
Luckily, residents had already evacuated with the approaching wildfire and no one was injured, NWS officials said.
Fire whirls or “firenados” are spinning columns of hot air and gases rising up from a fire, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. When the air and gases rise, they also carry up smoke, debris, and even fire, as seen in the vortex of fire in the video.
The vortices can be as small as under one foot wide to over 500 feet wide, the NWCG said. Fire whirls on the larger side can be as strong as a tornado, as evidenced on Saturday.
One of the largest and most destructive fire whirls occurred in 2018 during the Carr Fire in Redding, California, the National Weather Service said. It had wind speeds of about 143 mph, equivalent to those found in EF-3 tornadoes.
Tornadoes in any form, be it thunderstorm or wildfire-driven, are rare in Utah.
The firenado was only the second twister to be given an EF-2 rating in Utah since the Enhanced Fujita scale was implemented in 2007. Prior to that, only nine other tornadoes had been rated at least an F2 on the original Fujita Scale since 1950.
Meanwhile, firefighters are still battling the Deer Creek Fire, which had burned more than 15,600 acres as of Thursday morning’s update. The blaze is about 7% contained. It’s one of eight large wildfires burning in Utah that have scorched over 60,000 acres so far this summer.
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