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ST. GEORGE — Two fires in central Utah, one ignited by lightning and the other started by fire managers, are being used to clear out fire fuels and underbrush while also promoting the health of the national forest in the area.
Burning 7 miles east of Beaver, near where this summer’s Skull Flat Fire blazed on the north side of Baker Peak, the Skull Flat 2 Fire has been burning for the last two weeks after being triggered by lightning.
As of Friday, the fire has burned across nearly 1,700 acres and is creeping along at a low intensity as it smolders through heavy dead and downed fuels, according to the Central Utah Fire Interagency.
The fire is being monitored instead of being immediately put out by firefighters. The blaze is fulfilling a burn that previous firefighting efforts had stopped with automatic suppression responses.
To the east of the Skull Flat 2 Fire is the South Monroe prescribed fire burning in Piute County, located about eight miles west of Greenwich.
This fire, which actually consists of three different burn sites on Monroe Mountain, was ignited by fire managers of the Richfield Ranger District who oversee that part of the Fishlake National Forest. It was originally slated to burn between 1,200-2,000 acres.
Read the full article at St. George News.
