Crews halt progress of Horse Valley Fire in northern Iron County

The Horse Valley Fire burns just west of SR-130 in northern Iron County, Utah, July 26, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Mason Berg, St. George News / Cedar City News

IRON COUNTY — Crews have been able to halt the progress of a wildfire that started Sunday afternoon and burned 55 acres of grassy terrain and sagebrush near Minersville Highway, also known as state Route 130.

The Horse Valley Fire burning just west of SR-130 in northern Iron County, Utah, July 26, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Mason Berg, St. George News / Cedar City News

Bureau of Land Management Color Country District public affairs specialist Christian Venhuizen told Cedar City News that the fire, officially called the Horse Valley Fire, started at approximately 3 p.m. near mile marker 31 on SR-130.

The fire prompted road closures in both directions of SR-130 between Enoch and Minersville, as previously reported in a St. George News traffic alert.

However, by 6 p.m., the road closures had been lifted, and the fire was reportedly at 50% containment, Venhuizen reported.

“We brought in a bulldozer and created a fire line with the dozer,” he said, adding that firefighting crews in six engines and one water tender also responded to the blaze.

“Forward progression has been stopped,” Venhuizen said just after 9 p.m. There are no structures threatened and no injuries have been reported as a result of the fire, he said.

Although the cause remains under investigation as of Sunday night, authorities said they believe the fire to be human-caused.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!