Rain, lightning plague Southern Utah

ST. GEORGE — Heavy rainfall and mudslides forced the closure of U-14 over Cedar Mountain on Monday evening. The Utah Highway Patrol reported there was more than 2 feet of water covering the road.

The two-lane highway was closed at 5:30 p.m. and reopened a couple of hours later after broken tree limbs, rocks and chunks of mud were removed from sections along the road that leads to U.S. 89 in Kane County.

The same highway was closed for nearly a week during the height of flood season earlier this year and repairs are still visible to travelers. Huge piles of logs are shoved against the highway in several spots and the hillsides show signs of impending slides.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Iron and Washington counties on Monday evening. The warning for Iron County was allowed to expire just after 8 p.m. while Washington County remained under an alert expected to lift at 10 p.m.

Several lightning-sparked fires were also reported in the southwestern section of the state. One wildfire burning near the remote community of Motoqua on the western side of Washington County was to be contained by late Monday, said Ron Hodgson, fire information officer with the Bureau of Land Management.

"We have structural protection in place and have helicopters dropping buckets of water on the fire," said Hodgson, adding several fire crews were working the fire along with a single-engine air tanker.

A second fire, about a mile within the Shivwits Indian Reservation, also was keeping firefighters busy.

Late Monday, the fire had consumed 250 acres but no homes were in danger. Crews were to return to mop up today.

Homes on the reservation are not expected to be in danger since the Santa Clara River is between the wildfire and the structures.

Two years ago, a massive fire started by teenagers playing with matches burned much of the traditional hunting grounds on the Shivwits Reservation. The BLM and other agencies reseeded the charred acres with natural vegetation last year.

More lightning storms are predicted this week, with heavy rainfall expected in some areas. Lightning-caused fires can smolder for several days, however, which means warmer dry weather and winds can help produce flames, according to the Web site www.utahfireinfo.gov.

Residents of eastern Washington County were warned to stay out of dry gulches and other narrow canyon slots because of the high danger of flash floods. A transient camper was rescued last week after being trapped in rising floodwaters in the Santa Clara Creek near the town's high school.

The north fork of the Virgin River was also expected to surge after thunderstorms hit the area Monday evening, prompting another warning for residents living downstream and campers staying nearby.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com