Highway 279 near Moab reopened large grass fire
Jul 27, 2022, 2:41 PM | Updated: May 21, 2023, 4:38 pm
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish a fire that forced the closure of the highway several times. (Moab Fire Department)
(Moab Fire Department)
MOAB, Utah — Several fire departments helped put out a grass fire that closed Highway 279 for a time Tuesday.
The first flames were reported around 3:15 p.m. It took about seven hours for crews to extinguish the fire.
The Moab Fire Department said the fire scorched several acres in the area between the highway and the Colorado River near mile marker 4.
“Highway 279 was closed for several hours with one lane eventually opening,” according to a Facebook post from the Moab Fire Department. “Moab Fire remained on scene through the evening, returning to the Station near 10:00 p.m.”
All lanes on Highway 279 have reopened.
“During this incident, Moab Fire had several other calls to service including an agency assist in relation to flash flooding and the possibility of people caught in the flooding,” the post said. “It was determined no one was in the water or harmed.”
Flash Flood Warning including Kane County, UT, Washington County, UT until 5:30 PM MDT pic.twitter.com/kZNawwiuVr
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) July 27, 2022
NWS issued a flash flood warning until 5:30 pm. Narrows and all canyons exiting the Narrows are closed.
— Zion National Park (@ZionNPS) July 27, 2022
The National Weather Service issued more flood warnings for southern Utah Wednesday afternoon.
Crews revisited the blackened area Wednesday morning to ensure all hot spots were extinguished.
The Moab Fire Department was first on scene with multiple vehicles.
Intrepid Potash allowed the trucks to refill with water for a time on its property until crews could cut to the Colorado River.
