He was later briefed in St. George by Tom Suwyn, the incident commander on the Sunrise Complex fire. Suwyn said the fire, which has burned 21,458 acres and is one of two fires currently burning in the county, was contained Tuesday.

Among concerns Huntsman heard about was the proliferation of cheat grass in Utah and how funds are needed to research eradication of the invasive species that is “burning like gasoline.”

Huntsman said he will tackle the issue in his position on the natural resources committee of the National Governors Association.

The county's fire warden, Allen Briggs, told the governor that in the past two weeks there have been 67 fires in the county and that they were successfully contained for the most part due to interagency cooperation agreements between federal, state, municipal and tribal agencies.

Huntsman said he is planning another visit to the county in Utah's southwestern corner at a later date to meet with residents of Gunlock, which faced floods last January and two evacuations this summer because of encroaching fires that were stopped.

“The town should be renamed Survivor City,” said Huntsman.

Dean Cox, director of the county's emergency services, said after Tuesday's meeting that more than 200,000 acres in Washington County have been blackened by wildland fires, and the fire season is only half over.

Color Country Interagency Fire Area spokesman David Boyd said firefighters on Tuesday responded to a new fire near the ranching community of Motoqua, near the Nevada state line.

Fire crews with support from heavy air tankers and helicopters were able to stop the fire after it burned 150 acres.

Boyd said the Dammeron Complex fire, which has burned 18,464 about 12 miles north of St. George, saw no real change on Tuesday.

Firefighters continued to patrol the Dammeron fire conducting mop-up and fire line rehabilitation operations.

For the latest fire information call 435-688-3333 or 435-865-4696, or log onto

http://www.utahfireinfo.gov.