ST. GEORGE — Less than 24 hours after a significant fire tore through the brush near the Virgin River and Mall Drive, St. George Fire Department personnel answered a call for a brush fire along northbound Interstate 15 Wednesday afternoon.
Fire Chief Robert Stoker told St. George News the call came in at 1:30 p.m. notifying personnel of a fire on the freeway between exits 5 and 7.
“We started getting reports that there was fire along the northbound shoulder of the freeway, right by Furniture Row and Camping World off of Sunland Drive,” Stoker said.
Stoker said firefighters’ initial concern was for RVs parked at Camping World (Gander RV) and for vehicles that were parked in the parking lot at Furniture Row.
“We had crews on the freeway and on Sunland Drive, trying to make sure those RVs were protected,” Stoker said. “We also had to get some of those cars moved out of the Furniture Row parking lot. We had to move those because they were threatened.”
Nature’s strongest weapon against firefighters — the wind — also presented problems.
“Fire was getting pushed by the wind along that northbound shoulder,” Stoker said. “That shoulder is thick with grasses in there, starting to dry out. There was pretty heavy smoke across the freeway.”
Stoker said the resulting smoke caused traffic slowing and safety issues on I-15 but travel resumed to normal once the blaze was contained.
St. George Police also responded to the call. There were no injuries reported and Stoker said there was no further threat to parked vehicles or property in the area.
Stoker estimated the fire burned about one-and-a-half acres but said there was no property damage. He added that employees of Gander RV and Furniture Row were very helpful to firefighters, telling them where to go and moving vehicles out of danger.
While he did not know the exact cause of the blaze, Stoker said it was probably “accidental.” He went on to say that fires like these on the freeway usually get started by smoking material, flat tires or sparks from chains dragged by trailers.
A cigarette butt tossed out of a passing car could also cause such fires, Stoker said.
This report is based on statements by emergency personnel and may not include the full scope of the findings.
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