Wildfire threatens Shivwits Reservation

Police evacuated the Shivwits Reservation Sunday night and shut down Old Highway 91 from the reservation to Utah Hill as erratic winds fed a growing wildfire that threatened both Nevada and Utah land.

"The fire is burning to the north and south at virtually the same time. It's expanding in all directions," said David Boyd, fire information officer with the Bureau of Land Management in St. George. The fire is burning on federal, state and private land. "On the west side it's really rugged and a challenge to fight. Further east it's a little more hilly."

Abundant dry grass, high temperatures and gusty winds are challenging fire fighters at the Apex Fire, which had grown to 6,600 acres early Sunday evening. By nightfall officials had stopped trying to estimate its reach.

It was one of several fires burning in Utah Sunday night.

The Wooden Shoe fire, in the Abajo Mountains, burns about 30 miles from Blanding, San Juan County. It grew to about 550 acres Sunday night. The fire is in a canyon and the updraft is creating intense heat. The 20 local firefighters and eight smoke jumpers on scene are using caution, said Moab Interagency Fire Center Manager Dirk Johnson.

The goal is to coax the fire out of the canyon toward a bluff where firefighters will have a fairer fight. Its cause is under investigation.

The 98-acre Finn Canyon fire, seven miles south of Scofield, Carbon County, is not threatening any structures although a subdivision with some year-round homes is about a half mile away.

"It went the other direction because of the topography," Johnson said. About 115 people are on scene battling the blaze, which increased eight acres since Saturday night. Two helicopters are dipping water into buckets from Scofield Lake and pouring them over the fire.

The fire that forced evacuation of the reservation involved more than 120 firefighters, two heavy air tankers, three single-engine air tankers and five engines Sunday night. It was burning in pinyon-juniper and light shrubs about 10 miles west of St. George. Erratic winds pushed the fire in all directions, although the fire is primarily moving simultaneously to the north and south.

The fire was reported Saturday morning and is under investigation, said Boyd, who added there have been no storms or lightning strikes in the area.