Monroe Canyon fire in Sevier County considered “number one” fire in the US

RICHFIELD, Utah — Flames from the Monroe Canyon fire in Sevier County have burned over 9,500 acres while destroying at least two buildings, and forcing evacuations.

At a community meeting Saturday night at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, fire officials talked about the fire’s progress and their firefighting efforts.

As of Monday morning, the Monroe Canyon fire is at 3% containment, and is now considered the number one fire in the United States.

“The best analogy to give you right now is that instead of one big fire, we have 50 small fires that we know about and 50 small fires we don’t know about,” said a fire official at the meeting.

While recent rain helped, fire officials said it was a drop in the bucket for the blaze burning east of Monroe.

More than 200 firefighters are taking what they call a “seek and destroy approach” to fighting the Monroe Canyon fire.

“We’re going to have to stay ready until it decides to come out on its own,” said fire officials on Saturday night. “Is that two weeks, is that a month? We don’t know.

“With the current weather, I don’t know that we think it’s going to sit there a whole long time. But that’s a tough, tough question. Might be a season-ending event that puts it out in September or October.”

On Saturday night, firefighters said the major challenges with the Monroe Fire are access, the steep terrain and heavy fuel.

When asked by residents at the meeting whether their cabins were still standing, fire officials said that if a resident hasn’t been notified, their cabin is still standing.

However, three structures have been destroyed in the Monroe Meadows area.

The next community meeting is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at the Sevier Valley Center.