Southern Utah News Front Page: July 2, 2020

Wire Pass Fire closes The Wave ... for a few days

The Wire Pass Fire is burning grass and pinyon junipers. Photo courtesy of BLM Color Country Fire.

The Wire Pass Fire closed the iconic Wave to hikers for a few days after a lightning strike started a fire on June 26.

Observed fire behavior was minimal on Monday, with some interior pockets still smoldering on the Wire Pass Fire. With a second day of high winds, but much cooler temperatures, crews achieved 70 percent containment on the fire, and no movement or growth occurred.  

Tuesday’s planned operations were to spread crews throughout the burn to monitor for and catch hot spots, followed by a transition to a Type 4 Incident Command on Wednesday evening. The fire has burned 1580 acres of grass and pinyon-juniper.

The Wave walk-in lottery reopened on Tuesday morning at the Kanab Center for permit holders to begin hiking the Wave on Wednesday morning. The Kanab Center is located at 20 N 100 E in Kanab. For questions regarding the walk-in lottery, please call 435-644-5033. 

All closures were lifted at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, but motorists should use extreme caution when traveling on the Utah side of House Rock Valley Road, as firefighter traffic will still be in the vicinity.

Areas that were closed included House Rock Valley Road, Wire Pass Trailhead, Buckskin Gulch Trailhead, and Coyote Buttes North (The Wave).

For more information on fires in Utah, visit www.UtahFireInfo.gov.

For more information on fires across the country, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov.

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