ST. GEORGE — A large brush fire that is more than 300 football fields in size continues to burn in the Virgin area as of Friday afternoon and is threatening a tiny home community on Kolob Terrace Road. 

Update June 10, 5 p.m. Updated with 30% containment, additional video and photos.

The Zions Tiny Oasis community, which consists of vacation homes, was evacuated Thursday night according to the Bureau of Land Management and the co-owner of the community. 

The Dalton Wash Fire, which officials said started after a vehicle rolled off Dalton Wash Road about a half-mile north of the corner with state Route 9, was initially estimated at 600 acres. But Melissa Schnee, a spokesperson with the Bureau of Land Management, said it is closer to 300-400 acres in size.

“Now that they’re ground tracking, they’re thinking the lower number,” Schnee said. “Once they get the boots on the ground, the size usually gets downgraded.”

As of Friday afternoon, officials said the fire was 30% contained and full containment was expected by Monday.

Liliana Guerrero, who with her husband Sam created the tiny home community, said they didn’t need the firefighters to tell them to evacuate. 

“It was just right above our property – we started seeing the smoke. We thought it was weird because there were a lot of those firefighting planes. We haven’t seen that happen so close to home,” said Guerrero, who may be a familiar face to some having played Queen Lamoni in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Book of Mormon video series. “We weren’t asked we just saw a lot of firefighters. We could still see the glow so just drove down the hill. It looked like a volcano.”

The BLM has taken over jurisdiction after Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue and State fire initially fought the fire. A combination of ground crews and an aerial single-engine aircraft retardant-dropping aircraft are attacking the fire with more help on the way throughout the day including helicopters, said Schnee, who added for now the crews may be getting the upper hand on a fire that remains uncontained.

“Folks on the ground said early morning temperatures were working in their favor,” Schnee said. “We’re hoping to get ahead of it before the afternoon heat.”

As of 5 p.m., the fire remained at 350 acres, with progress on containment made throughout the day according to fire officials. 

Along with four SEAT single-engine planes, one helicopter and and one large aerial tanker were attacking the fire by the afternoon, along with six engine companies, two water tenders and two Type 1 Hotshot BLM crews.

Dalton Wash Road remains closed though SR-9 remains clear.

The BLM described the firefighting effort as a “Type 3 incident” on a scale of 1 to 6 with one being the worst.

“Type 3 is middle of the road,” Schnee said. “Terrain is a factor.”

In the case of the Dalton Wash Fire, the terrain has been an issue with a lot of it being steep and inaccessible with dry short grass and juniper on rocky hillsides. That is making the air attack, which can only occur during daylight, a prime factor in keeping the fire at bay, though officials say ground crews have now surrounded all flanks of the fire. 

As for Guerrero’s Tiny Oasis, she said they have seen their share of rain-causing flash floods and are now seeing fire. But she added that is a small price to pay for the view that she and her visitors get from her tiny homes. 

“We’re always kind of watching for flash floods and fires,” Guerrero said. “But it is beautiful.”

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