Utah fire officials say there is still plenty of time left this fire season for major wildfires. Jason Curry, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry Fire and State Lands, says just this month, crews have been fighting fires started by lightning on a daily basis.
“We still have a few weeks here where conditions are still ripe. We have dry grasses and potential for dry lightning still exists and once you get dry lightning igniting a fire and then winds combined with that we have potential for some large fires.”
Curry says the Machine Gun Fire, which started on Camp Williams in September 2010 and ended up destroying 3 homes, is one example of a wildfire that burned out of control late in the season, so fire officials play it safe by keeping all their crews on staff until fire season is officially over October 1.
“We do have all of our forces in place. Some of them are assisting other states, others are here on local fires. So, we’re pretty well stocked with resources.”
Over 424,000 acres have been burned so far this fire season in Utah.