ST. GEORGE — The Wave and Buckskin Gulch hikes remain closed after a wildfire in Kane County forced evacuations from campgrounds and hiking trails at the popular Wire Pass trailhead.
The fire started at approximately 11 p.m. on Friday night in the area of the Wire Pass trailhead, which is the starting point for The Wave and Buckskin Gulch hiking trails.
David Hercher, BLM Utah’s Paria River District Public Affairs Specialist, told St. George News that as of 10 a.m. Sunday morning, aerial mapping shows the fire is now at 1,588 acres.
“The fire’s looking really good today. When they mapped it yesterday, it was 1,535 acres. They mapped it again today at about 10 a.m. and it was 1,588 acres. So it barely picked up about 50 acres.”
Currently, there’s no aircraft on the fire due to the high winds. But the fire is holding and looking good with containment on the north end.
“Hand crews are out there, and they were able to get a dozer line around the north end of the fire, where it had jumped the road yesterday, and that’s contained.”
The trail is still closed. Signs were put out Sunday morning indicating closures.
While trails and campgrounds were evacuated, there was one group of four who had made their way down from Buckskin Gulch to Lee’s Ferry by foot, Hercher said.
“As I was leaving, law enforcement was escorting them back in to get their vehicle,” he said. “They had made it all the way down to Lee’s Ferry and were there for a couple days. And then they came on back to their car and were escorted in so they could get their vehicle.”
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
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