100-acre brush fire along Highway 89 in Kane County triggers power outage – St George News

Lina PortmanJune 4, 2024

7 2 minutes read

A brush fire along Highway 89 in Kane County has torched utility poles, causing a power outage in the Kanab area. Power crews are currently working to restore power, Kane County, June 3, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Kane County Emergency Services, St. George News,

ST. GEORGE – A fire along Highway 89 in Kane County Monday afternoon stopped traffic and triggered a power outage in the Kanab area.

The fire is located about 20 miles east of Kanab and started around 1:20 p.m. when a vehicle broke down, according to a statement posted on Facebook by Kane County Emergency Services.

“The fire burned approximately 1.25 miles on both sides of the road. Many power poles were damaged,” the Facebook post said.

This resulted in a power outage in Kanab, Orderville and northern Arizona since 2 p.m. Garkane Energy Cooperative, which serves these areas, posted on Facebook that it had initiated a mandatory power outage due to the fire and that electricity could be restored around 8 p.m.

The fire is estimated to be 75 to 100 acres in size and also led the Utah Highway Patrol to shut down traffic on Highway 89 in both directions for a period of time. This was to ensure the safety of firefighters as they battled the blaze, Kelly Wickens of the Utah Department of Natural Resources told the St. George News.

Highway 89 is now open in both directions, according to Kane County Emergency Services.

No structures were threatened by the fire and no injuries were reported.

Agencies responding to the fire included Utah Forestry, Fire & State Lands, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Kanab City Fire Department and Fredonia Fire Department in Arizona.

“This is still an active fire scene and crews continue to battle hot spots and fires as they flare,” the message from Kane County Emergency Services said.

Mori Kessler is a senior reporter for the St. George News, having contributed as an interim writer and editor in 2011-2012 and then deputy editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began writing news as a freelancer in 2009 for Today in Dixie and joined the St. George News editorial staff in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won a photojournalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing wild bees from a Washington home. He is also an unapologetic nerd and has a poor sense of direction.