Lighting strike possible cause of downtown St. George tree fire

A fire smoldering inside an old mulberry tree in the backyard of a home on Main Street was quickly doused by firefighters once the fire was detected by neighbors, St. George, Utah. May 15, 2023 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A lightning strike is considered the likely cause of a fire typically seen in the wild rather than in the middle of downtown St. George.

A fire smoldering inside an old mulberry tree in the backyard of a home on Main Street was quickly doused by firefighters once the fire was detected by neighbors, St. George, Utah. May 15, 2023 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

The St. George Fire Department responded to the report of a fire Monday afternoon that had ignited the rotting inside of an old mulberry tree. The old tree is located in the backyard of a home at 333 N. Main Street and was quickly attacked and extinguished by firefighters.

The inside of the mulberry tree appeared to have been smoldering for a few days until part of the fire broke out and neighbors began to smell smoke, St. George Fire Chief Robert Stoker told St. George News.

“It looks like it’s been burning for a while,” he said, adding that he suspects a lightning strike as the cause of the smoldering tree. “There’s nothing else around there that indicates any other type of ignition source.”

Fire investigators will check a lightning strike map to see if any data matches the general area, Stoker said, adding the strike most likely happened when minor storms passed through the region over the weekend.

Still, it’s more common to see a tree get struck by lightning and burn from within in the wilderness than it is in the middle of town, the fire chief said.

“We haven’t seen this in town that much,” he added.

The inside of the old mulberry tree appears to have begun rotting — a good fire fuel source. This weakens the large trees overall and makes them prone to falling over once a strong wind hits them. Before that can happen, firefighters usually cut them down, Stoker said.

Whether or not the backyard mulberry tree is cut down will be left to the homeowners to decide, Stoker said, though he noted it was leaning toward the home and some power lines.

Firefighters left the scene soon after, with the homeowners keeping an eye on the fire-scarred mulberry tree in case the flames flared to life again.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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