New wildfires threaten homes in Dixie area

ST. GEORGE — Lightning sparked new fires in southwestern Utah on Thursday, burning thousands of acres and threatening several homes and ranch buildings.

The Sunrise Fire had consumed more than 800 acres near the small community of Motoqua, 30 miles northwest of St. George. Several residents voluntarily evacuated, a move reminiscent of the January floods when evacuations were ordered for those living in the remote community.

Hundreds of firefighters scrambled to respond to the lightning caused blaze after resident Max Twitchell called it in.

"I think the firefighters did an excellent job in reeling it in," Twitchell said during an interview with KCSG-TV of St. George.

The Mill Creek Fire, burning just north of Washington city, threatened a subdivision earlier in the day but firefighters were able to stop it from advancing by cutting a fire line between homes and the fire. That fire burned more critical desert tortoise habitat in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, an area already ravaged by fire several weeks ago.

A 200-acre fire burning near the Wal-Mart Distribution Center, five miles northwest of St. George, pumped smoke into the air but didn't burn new ground.

Another small fire is burning above the town of Harrisburg on the east side of Pine Valley Mountain, said David Boyd, a fire information officer with the Bureau of Land Management in St. George.

Several utility poles were burned, causing a temporary power outage for residents of numerous outlying communities.

More than 500 firefighters brought the 8,700-acre Dammeron Fire to 35 percent containment on Wednesday, although it continued to burn east into thick timber growing in the Dixie National Forest.

A 35-acre fire burning on the west side of U-18 near Dammeron Valley came within a mile of a home and several ranch buildings, Boyd said.

Firefighters were able to protect a historic mine in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in northwestern Arizona. The Tank Fire has burned an estimated 10,000 acres about 50 miles south of St. George.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com