'Take this seriously': Why Utah firefighters are worried this summer | News, Sports, Jobs

It may seem counterintuitive, but back-to-back winters with above-average snowfall have officials worried this summer could bring large and dangerous wildfires to Utah.

Indeed, a healthy snowpack leads to more vegetation. Now, with what has been an unseasonably warm and dry spring, that vegetation is drying out, making it prime fodder for a wildfire.

Chris Delainey, Utah fire management official for the Bureau of Land Management, said fire conditions heading into summer are similar to years like 2020 or 2012, when the state was subjected to devastating fires.

“We have more grass and more fuel than we've seen in a while. We are seeing record-setting temperatures in early June. I implore people to take this seriously,” he said. “We're seeing conditions that align with seasons where we've lost homes, we've seen people killed…the conditions are lining up and are of great concern to managers and fire chiefs. »

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called it “the perfect recipe for wildfire season.”

“You can look around and you'll see that fuel growth is much higher than it was two years ago,” Cox said, speaking from This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City on a warm Monday afternoon. “You can feel it. We have above average temperatures, a lot of heat in June. It's a lot hotter than it should be this time of year.

Cox spoke at the annual Fire Sense news conference, where officials from the Bureau of Land Management, the Utah Office of Tourism and the Salt Lake City Fire Department urged Utahns to be smart when they recreate on the state's public lands this summer. About half of all wildfires in the state are human-caused: in 2020, 4 out of 5 wildfires were started by humans, burning more than 100,000 acres in Utah.

“We desperately need people to step up,” Cox said. “Let’s be smart about what we do and keep Utah safe this summer.”

For Utahns, that means following state and Forest Service guidelines for campfires, making sure heavy machinery is up to code, keeping chains and other metal objects from trailing behind trailers and vehicles, and following proper protocol when target shooting, such as shooting into a safety net. and not use prohibited ammunition.

Chris Milne, deputy chief of the Salt Lake City Fire Department, said homeowners should create buffer zones before summer, which are essentially the space between a home and vegetation that can burn. Embers from a wildfire can travel more than a mile, and Milne said a buffer zone can prevent new fires from starting.

“It buys you time to protect your home from fire and be able to evacuate if necessary,” Milne said, adding that it allows firefighters to be more efficient.

Basil Newmerzhycky, chief meteorologist for the Great Basin Coordination Center, an interagency group that includes the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and state agencies, said the fire season is already picking up. Although now 100% contained, the Rockville Fire in Washington County burned approximately 73 acres over the weekend.

The size of the Rockville fire could cause problems for Utah — Newmerzhycky said fires this time of year typically cover about 10 acres, not 50 to 100 acres. As the state continues to dry out, conditions will deteriorate.

“We expect the fires to really intensify as we approach July, particularly in the second half of the month,” he said.

Utah News Dispatch is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news source covering government, politics and the issues most impacting the lives of Utahns.

Newsletter