Thousands of residents whose homes are being threatened by a Utah wildfire have had to find shelter elsewhere as high winds fueled a blaze that officials believe was started by target shooters.

Residents of at least 2,300 homes in northern Utah were evacuated Friday, a day after the more than 6-square-mile fire started near the Saratoga Springs landfill, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. High winds then helped fan the flames onto tinder-dry grasslands.

Authorities were initially worried as flames moved toward property owned by an explosives company, but the focus turned to saving homes as winds kicked up and the fire moved toward Saratoga Springs.

Forecasters expect strong winds to persist through the weekend.

On Friday, fire officials were calling in additional aircraft and extra ground crews.

Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said he feared the fire could take down the area's power grid, shutting off electricity to up to 7,000 homes.