A new wildfire sparked in southern Utah was believed to have likely started after a lightning strike near Cedar City on Friday night. By late Saturday morning, officials said the Graff Point Fire had grown to around 100 acres and prompted a local evacuation order.
An evacuation was ordered “for all cabins, trailers, etc, that are located above the fire in the upper basin and Shurtz Canyon. Road closures from Shurtz Canyon Road to Right Hand/Kolob Mt. Road,” the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands (FFSL) posted to social media on Saturday. Fire officials asked that people avoid the area.
Containment efforts of the new fire were complicated by weather conditions and the dangerous location and steep terrain of the blaze.
“It’s really in a spot that’s not safe, truly, for firefighters to be in there,” said Kayli Guild, a spokesperson for FFSL.
Due to its position, containment efforts are primarily operating on wings of helicopters and large air tankers.
“They’re really throwing air resources at this one,” says Guild.
According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, more than a half-dozen tanker planes and helicopters could be seen flying circles over a mountainous areas about 10 miles south of Cedar City Regional Airport. Guild confirmed that around 10 different air resources were actively attacking the fire.
Extreme weather is also not helping efforts.
“Sitting in a red flag warning today down here,” said Guild, referencing conditions of high winds, high temperatures and low humidity. “And we actually are anticipating dry lightning as well. So that’s another problem.”
A southbound-facing Utah Department of Transportation camera near Cedar City on Interstate 15 and Cross Hollow Road showed wildfire smoke rising from the mountains to the east.
Right now, the evacuation notice applies to secondary homes and cabins. No primary residences are evacuated and no more than 20 people have been impacted, said Guild, who hopes the number stays low. Further evacuations will depend on how the fire behaves.
Graff Point Fire joins the Silver King Fire, the Deer Springs Fire, and the Babylon Fire on a growing list of active wildfires in the state.
Hazy air crept into the Salt Lake Valley on Saturday, with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality saying the “moderate” air quality was a result of low levels of particulate and ozone pollution.
This story is breaking and may be updated.