West Valley Fire grows to more than 10K acres, 5% contained

Photo: Gephardt Daily

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, July 2, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The West Valley Fire north of Pine Valley in Washington County has grown to more than 10,000 acres Monday and is five percent contained.

The wildfire, which is burning 10 miles north of St. George, has grown to 10,510 acres as of Monday morning, Utah Fire Info tweeted.

A community meeting to discuss the fire will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the New Harmony Fire Station at 133 E. Center St. Members of the Great Basin Incident Management Team 6 will be available to answer questions from the public.

There are currently 560 personnel on the incident, including 13 hand crews, 11 helicopters, 15 engine crews, a bulldozer, three water tenders and two camp crews.

The Twitter update Monday said: “Smokejumpers and hotshot crews are ‘spiking out’ — staying overnight near the fireline to minimize travel times to and from their work areas.

“Firefighters are building control lines directly on the fire’s edge, where possible, along the fire’s north and east and south flanks. Helicopters are dropping water on hotspots, and fixed-wing air tankers are dropping retardant to support crews on the fireline.”

Firefighters are assessing trail systems to utilize near the fire’s north flank in the event burning operations become necessary. Crews are also clearing brush along roads around the community of New Harmony.

A red-flag warning is in effect today for temperatures in the 80s and southwest winds gusting to 25 mph.

No evacuations are currently in place. The Pine Valley Campground is open, the update said.

The fire began Wednesday afternoon at approximately 3 p.m., officials said, and its cause was an abandoned campfire.

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