SEVIER COUNTY, Utah, April 28, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — U.S. Route 89 in Sevier County is closed Saturday afternoon after high winds re-ignited hot spots from a fire in the area Wednesday.
According to a news release from Sevier County Sheriff’s Office at 2:30 p.m., the fire is burning near U.S. 89 — also known as Old Sevier Highway and Old Highway 89 — in Elsinore.
A residence is threatened and neighbors have been evacuated, the news release said. Several fences and other sheds have caught on fire.
Elsinore Fire Department is on scene being assisted by Monroe and Richfield fire departments.
U.S. 89 has been closed due to the smoke, and there is some slowing of traffic on Interstate 70 due to the smoke, the news release said. Drivers are being asked to stay away from the area.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday that the fire began when a person was burning the canal banks in the area and left the burn unattended.Â
The fire was driven by the wind from the canal bank toward a shed and an abandoned single-wide mobile home. Two other trailers that were residences, but were not occupied at the time, were threatened by the fire.
The subject who started the fire on the canal bank was cited for reckless burning.
