CEDAR CITY — A two-vehicle crash and a car fire just miles apart and within a half hour of each other blocked traffic on both sides of a snowy and icy Interstate 15 between Kanarraville and Cedar City Friday morning.

The southbound side of the 15 was completely closed for around 45 minutes after a two-vehicle crash at mile marker 59 near the University Avenue overpass bridge in Cedar City at around 9:30 a.m.

Eight miles to the south at 10:16 a.m., the far right lane of northbound I-15 was closed for about the same length of time because of a vehicle fire off the side of the road.

Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Clay Allred told St. George News/Cedar City News that neither event proved to be too much of a hindrance to post-holiday traffic. 

“They were able to divert traffic at (mile marker) 59. It was just some cars had to come through town,” Allred said, adding traffic control was also fluid at the site of what he described as a “small” fire. “They were taking away one lane so the firefighters had space to work with.

At the crash scene, there was damage to a guard rail on the right side of the road after a collision between a pickup and a sedan. Both vehicles, with their drivers the only passengers, crossed both lanes of the highway. 

Allred said the female driver of the sedan was evaluated for minor injuries at the scene by Gold Cross ambulance but didn’t need further transport. The Cedar City Fire Department helped with cleanup at the scene.

Allred said the causes of the crash and the vehicle fire, which was subdued by the Cedar City Fire Department, remain under investigation.

St. George/Cedar City News reporters Jeff Richards and Cody Blowers contributed to this story.

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