CEDAR CITY — The cooler Saturday evening temperatures helped slow the wildfire burning south of Cedar City, along with the wind parting ways.
Utah Division of Forestry Fire and State Lands Communications Coordinator Kayli Guild told Cedar City News the Graff Point Fire burning in Shurtz Canyon east of Hamilton Fort is currently being partially contained by cliffs.
“There was not a lot of growth overnight,” she said. “We did a perimeter flight this morning that reassured us the fire is just over 300 acres.”
Saturday evening’s projections had the fire at 265 acres, yet Guild said natural barriers such as cliffs and steep rugged terrain have slightly contained the fire.
“After the wind dropped off last night, the fire stopped growing as fast due to the natural barriers in the area,“ she said. “We have hot shot crews out there today securing anchor points to work towards total containment.”
The Graff Point Fire is being reported as 0% contained. On July 13, 20 properties in the Shurtz Canyon area were evacuated due to the wildfire started by lightning.
A Central Utah Fire Interagency Management Team is scheduled to take command of the fire suppression operations on Monday, July 15, Guild said.
Silver King Fire
The Silver King Fire burning near Marysvale received a small amount of rainfall on Saturday.
According to a media update, several lightning strikes in the fire area were observed by firefighting crews.
“The Deer Creek area saw moderate fire activity and crews were able to extend lines on the east side north to Deer Creek,” Central Utah Interagency Fire said. “Firefighters were able to continue mopping up the fire area that jumped containment lines on the southeast corner during the wind event Friday.”
The west side of the wildfire is showing very minimal growth and firefighters reported they are keeping a close watch on it.
“The Incident Meteorologist has predicted increasing moisture into the weekend with a 40 percent chance of wetting rain and a potential for flash flooding,” the media update stated. “With the anticipated moist conditions are possible dry lightning and particularly erratic winds that prompted the National Weather service to issue a Red Flag Warning for Sunday.”
On July 14, prevailing winds are expected from the south. Smoke from the fire will be shifted towards the Richfield and Salina areas. The weather trend is for drier conditions into next week, the meteorologist reports.
Smoke conditions have increased to unhealthy levels for some individuals. For more smoke information, click here for more information.
The Fishlake National Forest has issued a closure order that can be found at this link. According to the media release, the Castle Rock Campground remains open. The wildfire caused by lightning has grown to 17,542 with fire personnel reporting 7% containment. There are currently 678 firefighters battling the blaze.
Deer Springs Fire
On Friday evening, fire officials fighting the Deer Springs Fire near Kanab reported 50% containment on the human-caused wildfire that is currently under investigation.
“Today’s (July 13) operations included continued work to secure the fire line on both flanks of the fire,” the Bureau of Land Management said in a media update. “Crews continued fire line construction and worked to contain any smaller fires that migrated off the rim. As the fire lines continue to strengthen, operations will combine two divisions on the east flank and continue to work on strengthening fire lines where the fire still remains active.”
The wildfire started on July 7 and has grown to 11,761 acres as of July 13. Although no evacuations have been reported, there have been road closures issued.
“Skutumpah Road between Johnson Canyon Road and Lick Wash is open to resident traffic only,” the media update said. “Nephi Pasture and Crocodile parking lots, as well as Nephi Pasture Road are closed to the public as these areas will be used for fire operations only. We strongly discourage all recreational activities in the Nephi Pasture Region and along Skutumpah Road.”
Currently battling the blaze are seven engines, three water tenders, one hot shot crew, one Type 2 attack crew, one helicopter, 2 dozers and 160 firefighters.
Cooperating agencies on the Deer Springs Fire include, Bureau of Land Management Utah, Color Country Interagency Fire, State of Utah Department of Natural Resource – Division of Fire, Forestry and State Lands, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Natural Resources law enforcement, US Forest Service, National Park Service, Beaver Dam Fire Department, and various private contractors and municipal fire personnel from several local fire departments.
Little Twist Fire
The Little Twist Fire, located approximately 4 miles southeast of Beaver, was projected at 5,367 acres and 60% contained on Friday.
Road closure orders remain in effect for the safety of the public and firefighters. Future updates posted on the Little Twist Fire will now be available as there are significant changes, firefighters noted.
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