The glow of flames from the Snow Canyon Fire looms in the distance behind Diamond Valley Elementary School in Diamond Valley, Utah, on Nov. 6, 2020. | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News
ST. GEORGE — The Snow Canyon Fire, which led to a temporary closure of state Route 18 and threatened Diamond Valley, has been halted as of noon Saturday. Authorities said the fire may have been sparked by target-shooting, then fueled by overnight winds.
The fire had grown to 1000 acres by morning before crews halted its progress.
“It’s not 100 percent contained,” said Utah Division of Forestry Fire Warden Adam Heyder. “But we’ve halted its progress. We didn’t expect it to be fully contained just yet. It’s rugged terrain up here, and we’ve got no aircraft on the fire right now.”
Heyder said that crews from 11 agencies pitched in to stop the fire, but there was still work to be done.
“We’ve got crews mopping up hotspots around the perimeter,” he said. “Now we’re just hoping for some rain today. That may do the trick.”
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David is a journalist, educator, and playwright. He has written for Zenger News, the Christian Science Monitor, the Barton Chronicle, North Star Monthly, and The Northland Journal, among others. He has covered various beats, including breaking news, courts and crimes, sports, and arts and entertainment. His writing on theatre appears regularly in American Theatre Magazine, Contemporary Theatre Review (UK), ConJunto (Cuba), and HowlRound.com. David's play, 800 Days of Solitude, about the ways in which solitary confinement affects juveniles and their families, was awarded the 2018 Christian Moe playwriting prize. He earned a BFA with summa cum laude honors from DePaul University, and holds an MFA in playwriting from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.