Forest fire closes road in Zion National Park

Following a fresh wildfire that broke out in Zion National Park on Wednesday night, authorities in Springdale restricted roadways. Photo: Zion National Park / Facebook

ZION, Utah – Following a fresh wildfire that broke out in Zion National Park on Wednesday night, authorities in Springdale restricted roadways. According to Zion National Park’s Twitter page, they closed the Kolob Terrace road last night but reopened it this morning with a pilot guard guiding traffic.

According to Utah Fire Info, around 4:30 p.m., the fire began on Kolob Terrace Road about 15 driving miles north of State Route 9 near Maloney Hill. Wildland firefighters from the National Park Service, the city of Hurricane, and the US Forest Service are battling the wildfire.

The fire was first estimated to be between 3-5 acres in size, but by 5:30 p.m., it had reportedly doubled its’ size.

The Kolob Upper Fire, as it was now known, was reported to be mapped at 17 acres this morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Currently, the park has a Stage 2 Fire Restriction in effect, meaning no setting, building, maintaining, attending, or using open fires of any kind in the park in general.