MARYSVILLE, Utah — What was once the largest priority fire burning in the country a few weeks ago is now 90 percent contained. But while the rain is helping crews douse the Monroe Canyon Fire in central Utah, it is now causing new concerns.
"That soil has been burnt over, and in many cases can become hydrophobic and not receptive to water, almost like an impervious surface at that point," explained Blake Johnson with the Utah Bureau of Land Management.
It all adds up to making flash flooding, debris flows and runoff more prevalent in the burn scars left behind.
The Great Basin Incident Team shared a video showing the charred canyon as wildlife walk through the thinned-out, and now muddy forest.
"It doesn’t take a lot of rain in these areas, right? It can just send a surge of water down your way," added Johnson.
North Ogden residents prep sandbags ahead of heavy rain, flooding:
Heavy rainfall is forecast for Tuesday night before tapering off by the Labor Day holiday weekend.
In nearby Elsinore, the recent rain has turned some roads into rivers, and the same rings true in the canyon where crews have just started to reopen some areas to those who own homes in the locations affected by the fire.
Officials are now focused on repairing areas burned and scarred by the fire.
"We’re reseeding native vegetation," Johnson said. "We’re repairing these roads as we’ve had a lot of heavy equipment and crews going up and down these roads, we’ve got 240 miles of containment — 200 on the perimeter and 40 on the interior — and on all of that, we try to go through and recontour and balance it out, the native landscape."
Burned home concerns turn to worries over burn scars, flooding in southern Utah:
Everyone involved in the fire is aware of how beloved the region is to so many people.
"Our hope is that we can get it back to normal as much as we can on the mountain they love to recreate on," said Johnson.
Areas like along the Sevier River at the Big Rock Candy Mountain in Marysvale.
"People call because they want to cancel their reservations because they think we are impacted by smoke, or the fire being close to us, which it really isn’t," explained Mindy Knowles, the manager at the storied resort.
Big Rock is up and running, offering accommodations at their hotel, cabins, restored railcars, and RV park, and is nearly fully booked for the upcoming weekend.
"We’ve got lots going on," added Knowles. "There’s nothing holding you back."
Knowles shared how the resort is receiving daily calls concerned about the fire and flooding, but said they're having no issues, and Big Rock is accessible.
