BEAVER — Additional resources have been called to a Fishlake National Forest prescribed burn in the mountains near Beaver.
Fishlake National Forest Service Public Information Officer Naomi Gordon told St. George News the South Beaver prescribed burn was upgraded to wildfire Little Twist out of an abundance of caution.
“Currently it is not an emergency situation, although we are asking the public to stay away from the area,” she said.
Due to increased fire activity and movement outside the prescribed burn area, the transition was made to ensure the safety of the public and firefighters, according to the press release. The upgrade to a wildfire allows firefighters and forest service personnel the use of additional resources, including those of local cooperating agencies.
“Additional resources have been ordered and are arriving on the scene,” the advisory said. “Firefighter safety continues to be our top priority as well as working to achieve burn objectives.”
The forest service media release noted that residents are being asked to avoid traveling near the fire areas near Kents Lake and surrounding areas.
“For your safety, please avoid accessing Forest Road #137 (Kents Lake Road), including Kents Lake, Anderson Meadow and Lebaron Campgrounds, as well as the South Creek area,” the advisory continued. “The Forest Service will notify the public when allowed to re-enter the area.”
Fishlake National Forest Beaver Ranger District Assistant Natalee Hunt told St. George News the forest road between Kents Lake and Lebaron campgrounds will be inaccessible to traffic. Fire crews are clearing the area to reduce traffic for their own safety.
“The road will be closed between the Kents Lake turn-off and Lebaron campgrounds strictly out of precaution for the firefighters’ safety,” she said. “There are no structures in danger or anything like that.”
Hunt said an accurate size of the Little Twist fire is hard to estimate due to the amount of smoke the fire is producing. Fire crews are currently trying to obtain better drone images for planning purposes.
“Probably between 700 and 800 acres have burned,” she said. “I will have better information once I have those images.”
Wildfire updates and other fire-related information throughout the state of Utah can be found on X @UtahWildfire, or by visiting Utah Fire Info.
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