ST. GEORGE — A fire that ignited Sunday near Veyo grew to more than 2,200 acres overnight as crews continued to battle the fast-moving blaze.
The wildfire, called the Veyo Road Fire by fire managers, originally crossed over a cinder cone many locals refer to as the “Veyo Volcano” then spread south along state Route 18 at mile marker 20 near Veyo. After nightfall, the fire began spreading west into the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
On Monday morning, Washington County Fire Warden Adam Heyder told St. George News the area was mapped by aircraft, revealing that the blaze spread to more than 2,260 acres overnight and that crews have contained 25% of the perimeter.
Several power poles were incinerated by the blaze, Heyder said, adding that Rocky Mountain Power sent a crew to replace the poles and restore service to customers affected by an outage.
Spencer Hall from Rocky Mountain Power said crews determined that nine power poles were destroyed, which initially resulted in a power outage affecting more than 500 customers. Crews then worked throughout the night to restore service to all but 79 customers still affected. Hall said repairs would be completed and service restored to the remaining costumers by 4 p.m. Monday.
The fire spread west of SR-18 near the Upper Cove Reservoir throughout the night, away from the many homes in between Veyo and Dammeron Valley. No evacuations have been ordered.
Upper Sand Cove Road remains closed as of Monday, while all lanes of SR-18 have reopened. The blaze did not impact the Veyo Pool, which remains open. No injuries were reported and the fire, which is said to be human-caused, is still under investigation.
Multiple agencies remain on scene, including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Natural Resources, Hurricane Valley Fire and Santa Clara-Ivins Fire. A seasonal wildland crew is expected to work through hot spots over the next couple of days to prevent the fire from spreading should warm, dry and windy weather conditions persist.
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