- The U.S. Forest Service seeks information about an ATV driver seen near Monroe Canyon Fire.
- The fire has burned over 5,000 acres, with 0% containment reported so far.
- Evacuations and closures are in place; firefighting efforts face challenging weather conditions.
MONROE, Sevier County — U.S. Forest Service officials say they're seeking information that can help them identify an all-terrain vehicle driver seen in the Monroe Mountain area about the same time that a wildfire broke out over the weekend.
About 2:30 p.m. Sunday, an ATV was seen on the west side of Monroe Mountain, which is close to the same time as the Monroe Canyon Fire was reported. The ATV is a dark blue, late-model vehicle with two doors, along with red and white markings, according to Fishlake National Forest officials. It may also have a cracked front windshield on the lower passenger side.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the wildfire, which has now burned over 5,000 acres and remains 0% contained. Fishlake National Forest officials said Tuesday that they're also seeking "any other information regarding individuals responsible for starting the fire."
Anyone with information is asked to call the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations Unit at 801-388-3402.
Evacuation orders were expanded to include the Elk Country Cabins, Sevier County officials said earlier on Tuesday. It adds to other evacuations in the area that were ordered not long after the fire broke out. Several sections of Fishlake National Forest are also closed because of the active firefighting operations
Nearly 200 firefighting personnel are currently assigned to the battle fire, according to Kylee Stott, a member of the Central Utah Type 3 Incident Management team. She said the fire "burned very actively" between Monday night and Tuesday morning, while crews carried out operations to protect cabins in the Manning Meadows area.
The weather hasn't offered many favors. A red flag warning was issued for most of the state on Tuesday because of the mix of heat, gusty winds and low relative humidity, which can create "critical fire weather conditions," the National Weather Service notes.
State and federal firefighters say a few new starts were reported over the past day, but most have been contained quickly.
The Monroe Canyon and Deer Creek fires have become the top threats this week. The latter — originating near La Sal, San Juan County — has now scorched close to 13,000 acres and has spread into Colorado, but is now 7% contained.
Over 71,000 acres have burned this year from 552 different wildfire starts in the state.
