Crews tackling late-fire season blaze near Cedar City

More than 2,400 acres had been blackened by Tuesday night at the scene of a new wildfire in southern Utah's Iron County.

Fire Information Officer Mike Melton said the Roundabout Wildfire was spotted about 4:20 p.m. Monday, in the Horse Valley area, some 20 miles northwest of Cedar City. It was burning in cheat grass, brush, pinyon and juniper trees.

It was not threatening any homes, but there are communications sites in area, which is also near the Kern River Pipeline Corridor.

"It's been pretty active out there," Melton said Tuesday afternoon. He said the going was slow for about 75 firefighters assigned to the blaze, due to its location in remote, rugged and hard to access terrain.

The fire was about 20 percent contained late Tuesday, as crews kept their eyes on shifting winds that triggered a National Weather Service "Red Flag" wildfire danger warning through 8 p.m. Wednesday for much of northern and central Utah.

Air tankers were dumping loads of fire retardant early Tuesday afternoon, and a water-bearing helicopter had also joined the fray.

"[We're looking at] worsening weather conditions predicted for Wednesday," Melton said. "[The forecast is] for low relative humidity and northwest winds [of] 20-30 mph [and] gusts to 40 mph, which could adversely affect fire behavior."

The public is being asked to avoid the Kern River Pipeline Road, the Lost Springs Road and the Horse Valley Road.

remims@sltrib.com