9/15/2026

MERCER – Visibility issues due to dense smoke from a nearby grass fire caused an accident and a temporary shutdown of Highway 51 south of Mercer yesterday.  We received calls into the broadcast center yesterday morning from drivers reporting that visible was near zero and navigation through the smoke was nearly impossible at times though a nearly 2-mile section of the highway, with one caller saying he had a close call by almost hitting another vehicle while driving though the smoke, another driver saying they turned around after having breathing issues while trying to drive through the extreme smoke.  Shortly after we received the calls the Iron County Sheriff's Office reported the highway was shut down due to an accident with traffic being rerouted.  The highway reopened shortly after 9am yesterday after winds shifted pushing smoke away from the highway.  No word on what caused the grass fire.