Millard and Beaver county fire at 45% containment, weather conditions increase risk of spreading

Aircraft takes off to fight the Rock Path Fire, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — While the Rock Path Fire that began Thursday in Millard and Beaver counties has shown a decrease in acres burned, Sunday’s hot and windy weather puts the area at potential risk for spreading through grasses, officials said.

The Rock Path Fire is south of the Sevier Playa in Millard and Beaver Counties, Utah, June 27, 2020 | Photo courtesy Kevin Abel, St. George News

Originally beginning as two separate fires, the Antelope Fire and the Rock Path Fire are now only being referred to as the Rock Path Fire, fire information officer Kevin Abel told St. George News.

Lightning ignited the fire on Thursday just south of the Sevier Playa in Millard and Beaver Counties. It is 45% contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to a press release issued by the Bureau of Land Management.

What was reported as burning 20,117 acres has been reduced to 16,588 due to the ability to better map the area. The fire is burning through grass sagebrush and juniper in federal, state and private land.

Currently, 335 personnel are reported working on the fire. Crews have been working on the fire over the last 24 hours and will continue to construct and strengthen the fire lines using hand-crews and bulldozers around the perimeter of the fire.

Weather conditions have the potential for wind-driven fire running through grasses with short spotting.

“As of right now, the wind is working with us. It’s pushing it back into an already burned area,” Abel said. “As long as our relative humidity stays up … that keeps it from spotting. If we can get the winds down, we can be able to maintain this. We have a very positive outlook.”

Resources assigned to the fire include: five hotshot Crews, 6 Type II hand crews, multiple aircraft, three dozers, 11 engines and five water tenders.

No evacuations, closures or threatened structures are reported at this time.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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