Sheriff completes investigation into Apex fire

Thursday, July 3, 2003 | 1:29 a.m.

A sheriff finished an investigation into the fast-moving Apex fire sparked by two teenagers playing with matches near St. George in southwestern Utah.

"The fire got away from them" and they immediately reported it, said Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith, whose report takes no position on criminal charges. Smith said he was leaving that up to the county attorney.

The fire in the Beaver Dam Mountains spread over five days to 31,000 acres and was 35 percent contained by Wednesday night, with full containment expected by Monday.

The fire was moving northwesterly toward Nevada but "there's not a lot out there that the fire's going to threaten," National Park Service information officer Dave Eaker said.

Firefighters dropped by helicopter were digging fire lines, and air tankers were trying to protect communications towers atop Scrub Peak, where the fire knocked out a radio repeater used by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the agency in charge of fighting the fire.

"We were able to get a temporary repeater set up there," BLM fire information officer Dave Boyd said.

The fire was sparked within a mile of Scrub Peak, also used to transmit radio, television and cell phone signals.

Firefighters also were trying to protect St. George municipal wells and power lines that run the pumps in those wells.

The fire, about 10 miles south of Dixie National Forest, was being fueled by dry grass, including explosive cheatgrass, sagebrush and some pinion and juniper trees, Boyd said.

The 16-year-old boys, who were riding motorcycles, started the fire Saturday morning. They found and lit some matches, sparking a fire they couldn't extinguish, the sheriff said.

They reported the fire "as quickly as they could have" to their parents, who turned them into St. George Police, he said.

Smith said he turned over his investigation to County Attorney Brock Belnap, whose deputy, Paul Dame, said Wednesday that no decision has been made on filing criminal charges. Smith said the investigation corroborated the boys' account that the fire was accidental.

The fire took an unusual turn Tuesday on West Mountain, burning against the wind up a steep slope, Boyd said.

The fire laid down Tuesday evening, when dying winds, humidity and a temperature drop slowed its advance. It stayed in place Wednesday morning, but picked up with winds Wednesday afternoon.

The Apex fire was named after the Apex Mine, which produced the rare metals germanium and gallium used in computer semiconductors. Teck Cominco American Inc. of Spokane, Wash., is holding the inactive mine in reserve, said Doug Jensen, reclamation specialist for the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining.

The mine wasn't threatened, but the fire jumped and closed old U.S. 91 from the Arizona border to the Shivwits Indian Reservation. The fire passed within about two miles of about 14 homes on the reservation, but bulldozers created a fire break around them on Monday.

The fire threatens no other buildings, Boyd said.

One firefighter was treated at a hospital for dehydration. She had consumed only a gallon of water instead of the recommended three to four gallons a day, said Ron Wilson, a BLM fire safety officer.

"That's one of our big concerns," Wilson said. "They just don't drink enough water."