PHOTOS: A cliffside brush fire next to Interstate 15 on Tuesday evening triggered multiple emergency calls for an incident that is believed to have been human caused.
The St. George Fire Department was alerted to the fire on the cliffside above the Southgate Townhomes off Sir Monte Drive around 8 p.m. The location also put the fire above southbound I-15 just south of the Dixie Drive/Exit 5 interchange, making it highly visible to passersby.
“We got a lot of calls,” St. George Battalion Chief Darren Imlay told St. George News.
Estimated to reach about a half-acre in size, the fire had grown slowly by the time firefighters arrived, Imlay said. On the south side of the cliff, the fire was burning into the rocks and beginning to burn itself out due to a lack of fuel.
On the north side, which was burning toward Southgate Townhomes, firefighters were able to get the fire contained and extinguished pretty quickly, Imlay said, adding that a rock wall built between the hillside and townhomes also helped keep the fire from getting too far.