ST. GEORGE –     When there’s an emergency and you’re not home, how do you know? Washington County is rolling out a new citizen alert system that sends messages to you wherever you are.

“It’s the ability to be well-informed,” said St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain. “And know of potential problems or things that are happening in all areas of Washington County.”

The Washington County dispatch center monitors emergencies for close to a dozen cities and towns. In disaster situations, they send out alerts to home owners. In the past they relied on reverse 911 systems, but St. George police said in a society that’s moving away from land lines, that’s not always possible. The Citizen Alert System is the next generation of reverse 911 and combines alerts to cell phones, emails and other mobile devices.

SOUTHERN UTAH — Fire crews continue to fight several fires burning in south-eastern Utah and one in nearby Colorado.

The largest of the wildfires is the Lackey Fan Fire, which is burning about three miles north-west of Lasal. It has burned an estimated 900 acres and is at zero percent containment.

The Dark Canyon Fire is also at zero percent containment, and it has burned nearly 190 acres.

The Rock Creek Fire is burning 15 miles east of East Carbon, and it is five percent contained. It has burned 180 acres of land.

Another fire is burning in Dinosaur National Monument. Crews are conducting suppression action on the fire on Wild Mountain. The fire is estimated to have covered 350 acres. Fire managers said the Wild/Hacking Fire started as two separate fires, both of which were ignited by lightning strikes, but merged into one large blaze Friday.

PAROWAN, Utah – A small southern Utah town is hoping to attract big business. They’ve launched a new effort to get travelers off I-15 and onto one one of the state’s scenic byways.

Parowan, established in 1851, is the oldest city in southern Utah.

“We’d love to have people come to Parowan. We think that this is just the best community in the whole world,” said Parowan Mayor Don Landes.

This week, the city installed two massive welcome signs to let travelers along I-15 know that they’re welcome.

“The people here are very, very proud of their heritage and that’s an important part of the community. And the substance of these signs I think is a reflection of that,” Landes said.

The signs are part of a $300,000 project designed to bring tourists to State Road 143, also known as the Patchwork Parkway.