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ST. GEORGE — Firefighters battled a large fire along the Virgin River in St. George Tuesday afternoon.
Crews were called to the fire about 3 p.m. Within about two hours, they had mostly contained the fire but were watching hotspots.
As of 8 p.m., the fire is 100% contained and there were no injuries or structures lost, according to state fire managers. While it appears the fire may have been a controlled burn that got out of control, the cause remains under investigation.
Fire departments from across Washington County had responded to fight the blaze.
The fire ignited near a residential area at 2580 E. Waters Edge Circle, just south of the Virgin River near Mall Drive.
In a video from St. George police, massive amounts of smoke could be seen billowing up from the area of the fire.
Crowds of spectators prompted a plea from police to stay away.
"We know that these kinds of things can be exciting and they can be kind of cool to see, but I've seen people while I've been here on their phones videoing while they're driving, we have tons and tons of people coming down into this area trying to get a look at what's going on," St. George police officer Tiffany Mitchell said in the video, begging people to "stay out" of the area.
She said spectators were congesting the area and taking resources away from the fire response.
Some residents in nearby condos were urged to voluntarily evacuate due to the nearby fire, but no mandatory evacuations were ordered.
Utah Fire Info, the Twitter account for Utah's wildfire managers, said state resources were requested as the fire was estimated to be covering 40 acres and was threatening more than 100 structures.
St. George Fire Chief Robert Stoker said he expects this fire season to be tough in southern Utah with the wet winter and rainy spring creating new vegetation growth on top of years of dead fuels just beneath the surface.
