ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Just as southern Utah firefighters contained five blazes, a new, fast-moving fire was sparked Sunday afternoon, closing Interstate 15 to traffic in both directions for several hours.
The new fire was reported about 1:30 p.m. near the intersection of the Interstate 15 and Utah 9, which leads to Hurricane and Zion National Park, Color Country Management Area fire spokeswoman Jody Hamel said.
I-15 traffic was diverted to Utah 9 and Utah 17 through Hurricane and Toquerville, until the interstate was reopened about 5 p.m.
The blaze quickly grew to 700 acres, but Hamel said backfires and retardant drops stopped it before it threatened nearby communities. Although its progress has been halted, the fire has not yet been contained.
The Red Cliffs Campground and several hikers were evacuated, but the campground was reopened later.
The Cottonwood Trailhead in the Red Cliffs Preserve will remain closed pending completion of firefighting operations in the area.
Crews contained five fires in southwestern Utah that were ignited by lightning Thursday evening.
The Summit Spring fire, 10 miles south of Ivins was contained at just 12 acres and the Cliff fire, just west of Gunlock was contained at 227 acres. The Utah Hill fire, 12 miles west of St. George burned less than 1,000 acres before containment.
The 1,200-acre Powerline 2 fire, 10 miles southwest of St. George, also was contained.
The North Gorge Fire, the largest blaze at more than 3,000 acres, was contained late Sunday. Hamel said.
A wet winter and plentiful spring rains won't mean that Utah should expect a quiet fire season, Hamel added.
''We've been in a seven year drought, so the trees are really stressed and then we had all this moisture, so we have a lot of grasses,'' she said. ''With the high temperatures we've had already, we have a lot of fuel out there.''
The Eastern Great Basin Coordination Center, which forecasts fire danger for Utah and southern Idaho, has predicted a slightly above normal danger for fire potential in southwestern Utah.
Utah's west desert is expected to be ripe for quick, hot fires this year because of the high amount of fuel, some grasses there are twice as high as usual.
Another danger: dead trees in the state's forests. The risk is especially high in the Fishlake National Forest east of Cedar City where there may be as much as 50 to 100 tons of wood per acre, said Dave Dalrymple, fire management coordinator for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
Most the fires burning over the weekend were in rugged isolated areas, BLM fire information officer David Eaker said.
Single engine air tankers were dropping a retardant mixture of water and fertilizers on the fire, he said.
