By Mark Havnes and Russ Rizzo
The Salt Lake Tribune
Copyright 2007 The Salt Lake Tribune
All Rights Reserved
CEDAR CITY, Utah — A wildland fire in Zion National Park’s rugged backcountry became Utah’s biggest Tuesday as other, smaller fires around the state were contained or doused by a blessing of rain - and fast work by fire crews.
Zion spokesman David Eaker said eight smoke jumpers on Tuesday started fighting the Zion Complex fire, ignited by lightning on Sunday and flaring to life Monday.
He said the fire grew to more than 500 acres by Tuesday, and smoke jumpers were trying to create a fire line and clear a helicopter landing site.
The fire is burning north of Orderville Canyon and east of the Narrows, Eaker said. The fire closed several hiking trails and shrouded the park in smoke during the morning hours.
Crews hope to keep flames from spreading past park boundaries about two miles away, Eaker said. But it’s spreading quickly to the north and east, fueled by wind and dry conditions.
It’s rare for a wildfire to grow significantly overnight, when temperatures drop, Eaker said.
“It’s an indication of how dry the fuels are.”
Jim Springer, a spokesman for the state Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said recent lightning strikes caused numerous small fires in southwestern and central Utah, but none had turned into a major fire by Tuesday.
He said the region is being monitored from the air for any new starts.
Kathy Jo Pollock, a spokeswoman with the Interagency Fire Center in Salt Lake City, said firefighters were watching unburned islands of land within the containment lines of the 363,000-acre Milford Flat fire in Beaver and Millard counties.
She said fire crews are ready to start suppression efforts if the 500- to 1,000-acre islands start burning. Management of that fire was turned over from a Type 1 to a Type 2 team on Tuesday.
Bureau of Land Management spokesman Scott Sticha said that the Bumblebee fire west of Kanarraville in Iron County - it had forced 25 residents to evacuate - was 100 percent contained.
Lacee Bartholomew said the rains helped fire fighters contain the fire to just 60 acres, allowing residents back to their homes Monday night.
Meanwhile, in Washington County, the Powerline fire north of St. George in the Dammeron Valley - it had knocked out electricity to more than 160,000 people for 4 1/2 hours Monday - was 10 percent contained Tuesday. The 900-acre lightning-sparked fire caused high-voltage lines to fail.
Dean Cox, the county’s emergency-services director, said Tuesday that Monday’s rains helped slow the fire that was smoldering on Tuesday or burning in ledges that act as natural barriers.