Major Fire in Southern Utah Causes Evacuation Order for Leeds and Harrisburg

An evacuation order was issued to the West end of Leeds and Harrisburg on October 29 due to a large brush fire that broke out near the Southern Utah areas.

Fire crews from across Southern Utah responded to the fire and worked most of Sunday to extinguish the flames.

Unfortunately, the process was a bit more difficult than anticipated thanks to high winds plaguing the area. Every time the fire workers would make leeway on putting out the flames, the winds would restart the inferno all over again.

The fire ended up closing parts of Northbound I-15, impacting the usual Sunday traffic of residents making their way to and from Washington County.

Local power lines were caught in the flames as well, causing a power outage for a good chunk of the area surrounding the fire.

The fire started at 10:03 a.m. with the road closure occurring from then until approximately 1:30 p.m.

Captain Tyler Ames of Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue provided updates on the situation through their Facebook page.

Images from the scene show large amounts of smoke leaking into the main road to the point where it’s difficult to see where the freeway is going.

Once the fire was finally brought under control, more lanes continued to open for the usual traffic, just in time for the beginning of the new work week.

State fire crews continued to monitor the hot spots for any potential flare ups on October 30, but no word has been given on the possibility of the fire returning.

As for Leeds and Harrisburg, power has been restored to the area, and the evacuation order has been rescinded.