Residents evacuating Brian Head, Utah, as wildfire grows

BRIAN HEAD, Utah — A town in Utah is being evacuated amid one of three large fires in the state.

KSL.com reports a 50-acre fire caused a highway near Brian Head to be shut down Saturday afternoon and prompted the town’s evacuation.

U.S. Forest Service official Mike Melton said the fire was growing and active.

A Brian Head town emergency notice said there was no estimate on when or how the fire would be contained.

Two other fires are ongoing in Utah. One in Uintah County is 0 percent contained and has burned about 500 acres. The other is in Piute County and has burned about 350 acres.

Cedar Breaks National Monument is still open, but all travelers are advised to enter and exit the park via State Route 14 south of the park, The Spectrum in St. George is reporting.

Jared Burton, public information officer for the Brian Head Marshall’s Office, told the Spectrum, a newspaper and website covering St. George and Cedar City, Utah, that the location and terrain made the fire hard to contain before it reached town limits.

The fire has shut down Highway 143 in Parowan Canyon indefinitely.

Fire officials told the Salt Lake Tribune that much of the firefighting was being done from the air and hand crews were protecting structures where they can safely do so.