ST. GEORGE — A brush fire caused by a lightning strike grew to over 300 acres Sunday, but is expected to be contained by the early morning hours Monday.
The fire began during a thunderstorm Saturday afternoon, and quickly grew to several hundred acres, Color Country Interagency Fire Center Manager Bill Roach said. Initially structure protection personnel were assigned to the fire but were sent home when the fire was no longer deemed a threat to buildings. Approximately 55 wildland firefighters are currently working to contain the fire, but are expected to removed from the fire Sunday night. A single helicopter also worked on the fire Sunday.
“They did have a helicopter doing bucket drops on it today,” Roach said. “They’re on standby down in St. George, we’ll probably kick them loose tomorrow.”
The blaze currently stands at 307 acres.
The weather is expected to extinguish the fire over the next day, Roach said.
“The weather forecast looks really good. It looks like we’re going to get wet,” he said, adding the depending on the weather, the fire should be out between midnight Sunday and Monday morning.
“It’s a fire that’s in grass,” Roach said, “so even a little bit of rain or a big increase in relative humidity will stop it.”
According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for Monday calls for a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a possibility of heavy rain.
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This is fantastic news. the fire fighters are our hero’s putting their lives on the line for the safety and well being of others. we should be so blessed to have them. .Praise the Lord !