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UPDATED: Evacuations ordered in Leeds, both sides of 15 closed because of 1,000-acre wildfire

Utah Channel 3

LEEDS — A brush fire that started Sunday afternoon has forced evacuations in Leeds and Harrisburg and has closed both sides of Interstate 15 between the Hurricane and Toquerville exits.

Updated July 19, 5:40 p.m.: Cause of fire, updated acreage, further details.

Authorities with the Color County District have issued a mandatory evacuation order for the Leeds area west of the freeway, including the Red Cliffs campground.

The fire, dubbed the Cottonwood Trail Fire, started around 3:05 p.m. near mile marker 17 of the 15 and has quickly grown beyond 2,000 acres with no containment.

A fire whirl appears in the smoke of the Cottonwood Trail Fire near Leeds, Utah, on July 19, 2020. | Photo courtesy of Telia West, St. George News

Mike Melton, the area management officer for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said in a statement the fire started because of a blown tire.

No structures are threatened at this point, but a firefighter has been sent to the hospital with smoke inhalation.

The northbound lanes of the 15 are currently closed starting at mile marker 16, or three miles northeast of Washington City. The southbound lanes are blocked four miles north of Leeds at mile marker 27.

According to the Utah Department of Transportation, travelers are advised to use state Route 9 to state Route 17 as an alternate route.

This is a developing story.

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