ST. GEORGE — A large wildfire is burning on Pine Valley Mountain, sending billows of smoke in the air that can be seen from Cedar City to St. George.
This LIVE post is closed. For more recent information, click the following: Fire on Pine Valley Mountain changes directions but still zero percent contained
Update June 28, 9:45 p.m. Ten homes on private land near the Mill Flat Trailhead are now threatened by the fire. Officials are “in place doing structure assessments,” according to the Utah Fire Info Twitter page, which is being updated by fire information officer Nick Howell. More critical weather conditions are being forecast for Thursday.
The fire, which is being dubbed “West Valley Fire,” has been mapped at being 2,000 acres and is zero percent contained. One acre is about the same size as a football field.
According to a press release, “dry vegetation and windy conditions continue to drive the fire north in the Pine Valley Wilderness Area.”
The response to the fire includes eight fire engines, six hand crews, and 13 firefighting planes or helicopters. An additional five hand crews were ordered to help with the response.
The fire was first reported at about 3 p.m. Wednesday to be burning an area at least 100 acres large, Howell said. The fire is 1 mile east of Gardner Peak and 3 miles northeast of Pine Valley Mountain.
“We currently have aircraft and multiple resources from Color Country Interagency Fire en route,” Howell said at 5 p.m. “At the time, the fire was estimated to be about 100 acres, but it is active and it is moving, so that could change.”
There are no evacuations being performed so far, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Michelle Wilson, a resident of Pine Valley, said she could see flames from her home and the smoke was “frightening.” She said she isn’t yet concerned about the fire threatening her home because the majority of it is on the other side of the mountain from Pine Valley.
“Every few minutes, I can see flames when a big ponderosa (pine tree) goes up from my top upstairs bedroom window,” Wilson said. “This is a nightmare.”
The Pine Valley Fire Department sent Wilson and her neighbors a message on the phone that there are no structures in Pine Valley threatened, she said.
Wilson said there are often many campers in that area of Pine Valley Mountain that have campfires.
This is a developing story.
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A photo taken from Pine Valley, Utah, shows smoke rising from the "West Valley Fire" on Pine Valley Mountain, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Michelle Wilson, St. George News
A photo from the Grass Valley area of Pine Valley Mountain shows smoke and flames rising from the large West Valley Fire on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Connor Pickett, St. George News
A photo taken from Toquerville, Utah, shows smoke rising from the massive West Valley Fire on Pine Valley Mountain on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Sarafina Amodt, St. George News
A photo taken from St. George, Utah, shows smoke rising from the massive West Valley Fire on Pine Valley Mountain on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Harald Eide, St. George News
A photo taken from Cedar City, Utah, shows smoke rising from the massive West Valley Fire on Pine Valley Mountain on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Wendi Lewis, St. George News
A photo from the Grass Valley area of Pine Valley Mountain shows smoke and flames rising from the large West Valley Fire on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Connor Pickett, St. George News
A photo taken from near Cedar City, Utah, shows smoke rising from the massive West Valley Fire on Pine Valley Mountain on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Liz Hagen, St. George News
A photo from the Grass Valley area of Pine Valley Mountain shows smoke and flames rising from the large West Valley Fire on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Connor Pickett, St. George News
A photo taken from Washington City, Utah, shows smoke rising from the massive West Valley Fire on Pine Valley Mountain on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
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There’s a hundred years of dense dead fall up there. This may not end well.
Temperature dropped by 5-10 degrees here after smoking blocked out late afternoon sun.
Stunning terrain to the south of fire. Hopefully it burns out but forecast is red flag worthy for the next week.
Ivins Eddy must have been smokin up there again
hahahah. yup, he was campin’ out of his 1968 vw van/bus thing. hahahah 😉
I was curious if it would light up the night sky at all. I can’t see it from my house, and I’m too tired/lazy to drive anywhere tonight. lol
You can’t see anything out of your mother’s basement
Fire laid down well overnight. No smoke seen at all from my angle of the mountain.
Cute pic of the fire with the sprinkler and hummingbird. Very niiiice.