Rehab planned for Apex fire area

Fire crews at the Apex blaze, in the hills 10 miles west of St. George, will be replaced by different fire experts, who will rehabilitate the 30,000 acres of scorched and scarred land.

They're called Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation teams, and some are already on scene determining which areas will need to be reseeded, what type of landscape will prevent erosion that is inevitable on hills once dotted with plant roots that held the soil, said David Boyd, fire information officer.

The Mohave County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Office must replace a radio repeater that was lost in the fire. Thirty-nine utility poles along a line on West Mountain also were burned. "Most of the repeaters and (poles) had generators, so it wasn't too big a deal for most people. They were able to get up there Friday and fill the propane generators," Boyd said.

On Friday crews fully contained the fire, about a week after it began. At one point it threatened the Shivwits Reservation and the communities of Kayenta, Gunlock and Motoqua.

About 40 firefighters and two helicopters remain on scene to monitor the fire, map and douse hot spots, Boyd said.

The Woodenshoe fire, 25 miles west of Blanding in the Dark Canyon Wilderness Area of the Manti-LaSal National Forest, is expected to be contained Wednesday, according to the Moab Interagency Fire Center.

Sunday night the 2,676-acre blaze was 50 percent contained. The fire started June 26, possibly by a campfire.

A fire burning on the mountain ridges of Diamond Briggs Wilderness Study Area had grown to 150 acres by Sunday night, said Cheryl Nelsen, manager of the Uintah Basin Fire Center. About 65 firefighters and personnel were on scene, including two hand crews, a fire engine and a helicopter crew. The fire was was first spotted Tuesday. It probably was sparked by lightning.

The 3,100-acre Lonesome Beaver fire, which has been controlled for weeks, flared up inside the perimeter on Sunday, generating smoke that could be seen for miles, said Tina Greenhalgh of the Richfield Interagency Fire Center.

A few firefighters are on ground monitoring the fire's activity, although it does not appear to be growing. The fire is burning in the Henry Mountains 20 miles southwest of Hanksville, Wayne County, Greenhalgh said.

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