ST. GEORGE — A brush fire ignited in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area Saturday afternoon has grown to 125 acres, according to fire officials.
Updated on Oct. 3, 7:40 p.m.: New fire growth reported
Called the Lava Ridge Fire, the blaze is set around three miles north of St. George on Old Turkey Farm Road, was reported around 1 p.m. Saturday.
Fire units from Santa Clara/Ivins City, Hurricane, Colorado City, St. George and the Bureau of Land Management are all responding, and aircraft support has also been called in.
The fire is believed to be human-caused, according to the Color Country Interagency Fire Center.
St. George Fire Battalion Chief Darren Imlay said the fire is burning through light but thick brush, which has helped it spread quickly.
Access to the fire beyond the immediate vicinity of the roadway is also limited, Imlay said This led to a call for airborne resources to be added to the firefighting operations.
There is concern for electrical poles in the area as the fire is burning around the base of some poles while setting others on fire. Because of this, St. George Energy Services announced over Facebook that it had cut power to lone Rocky Mountain Power’s lines that fed power to communities on state Route 18.
Th outage impacted over 1,700 customer , according to Rocky Mountain Power, and were spread across the communities of the Ledges, Winchester Hills, Diamond Valley and Dammeron Valley.
As of 7:20 p.m., the Rocky Mountain Power website shows no remaining power outages in Washington County and appears to hae been restored to the impacted communities.
The road to Red Hills Campground has been closed.
This is a developing story.
Fire units near the scene of a fire in the Red Cliffs Conservation Area on Oct. 3, 2020 in St. George, Utah. | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
Fire in the Red Cliffs Conservation Area on Oct. 3, 2020 as seen from Red Hills Parkway in St. George, Utah. | Photo courtesy of Daralyn Potter, St. George News
Map showing location of the fire in the Red Cliffs Conservation Area on Oct. 3, 2020. | Map courtesy of Google Maps, flames image courtesy of iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News | Click to enlarge
Fire units near the scene of a fire in the Red Cliffs Conservation Area on Oct. 3, 2020 in St. George, Utah. | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
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