‘This is a tough one’: Gov. Cox visits crews fighting Monroe Canyon Fire, containment drops as fire passes 55,000 acres

RICHFIELD, Utah (ABC4) — Containment drops to 7% on the Monroe Canyon Fire burning near Richfield in Sevier County, Utah. It has grown another 7,000 acres in the past 24 hours to 55,642 acres due to active winds, according to the latest information released by the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team on Friday.

Officials said they expect wind speeds to be slightly lower on Friday with gusts in the 20 mph range. Inversions have been lifting around noon each day, in turn increasing airflow into the fire.

There are about 1,217 fire personnel fighting Utah’s largest wildfire of the season and officials say there are many more on standby.

“It’s been a long time since we have had a fire of this magnitude that is impacting so many communities,” Governor Spencer Cox (R-Utah) said as he visited firefighters on site. “The problem is that next 14 days don’t look great with low humidity and high winds. My message to people across the state is that we can have a fire in any part of our state,… We need everyone to exercise extreme fire caution right now.”

Cox added that if Utah sees another fire like this it would be much harder to fight it and strain our resources. He has also declared a state of emergency as over 100,000 acres have been burnt due to the ongoing wildfires.

Firefighting operations

On Thursday, crews said the fire crossed the Bear Valley Road and pushed the fire towards Highway 24, prompting a road closure. Highway 24 will continue to remain closed for firefighter and public safety until the threat of the fire has passed. Crews had to extend their shift into the night to contain the fire along the highway, officials noted.

Around Burrville, crews said they are working diligently to prepare structures and strengthen the fire line above the town. The town is currently under evacuation orders. The fire burnt sagebrush fuel types, causing the smoke column to turn black in color. Crews said they have constructed a line to the south end of this fire and will continue to build on it through the day today to protect the town.

To the south of Monroe, crews continued firing operations along the Dry Creek drainage towards Spring Canyon, building off retardant lines that had been placed by aircraft over the last few days.

“When conditions allow, crews hope to utilize UAS systems to assist in firing operations to add depth to that line,” the team said in a press release.

Crews around the Bagley Ranch area saw another day of spotting, where they saw pockets of new fires at a distance from the main fire, but have successfully extinguished all new starts. Suppression of such fire spots will continue in Magleby down to Manning Meadows.

In the Long Flat area, crews said they re-entered the area, assessed structures, performed mop-up, and suppressed lingering hot spots. 

They said they are also building a fire perimeter at the foot of the hills east of Annabella and Glenwood to check up the fire if it comes down off the mountain.

Power restored

Power was restored in most of Wayne County on Thursday at around 8:30 p.m. Over 3000 customers were without power since Wednesday at 3 p.m. Garkane Energy Cooperative said crews were able to make temporary repairs by reworking the lines and bracing damaged poles. There are about 12 power lines that have been completely destroyed.

Currently, Burrville and Monroe Canyon areas, as well as parts of Poverty Flat, Magleby, Monroe Meadows, Cover mountain, Elk Country Cabins, Long Flat, Big lake, Porters and areas around Mormon Peak are under evacuation orders.