In his 34 years as a state forester, Dick Buehler has never seen conditions this bad.

"We can't recall burning conditions in Utah being this severe," the director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands said Tuesday. "Our fuels are so dry."

More wildfires could start up this week. Thunderstorms are expected to move across the southern half of Utah today.

"We'll see thunderstorms that don't produce a lot of rain but will produce lightning," said Brandon Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.

No matter where you go in Utah, Buehler said, the danger of a tiny spark igniting a massive inferno is extreme.

"It's the whole state. The low country, where the vegetation is so dry," he said. "Humidity is 2 to 4 percent. It's drier than killed, dry lumber."

Things are so hot and dry that any rain evaporates before it hits the ground, Smith said. That extremely dry vegetation has fueled the 300,000-plus-acre Milford Flat fire in central Utah and the Neola North fire, which has burned 43,000 acres in eastern Utah.

The hot and dry conditions have prompted a fire weather watch for this afternoon. A red flag warning could also come today, meaning conditions are ripe for more fires. The areas that could see the next round of fires include the high country areas of southern Utah.

"It looks like the thunderstorms will be a little bit wetter on Thursday and Friday. Beyond that, it actually dries out a bit," Smith said.

All Buehler can do is watch and wait for the next big fire.

"As soon as we get lightning," he said.

Up until the Milford Flat fire, most of the major fires were caused by humans.

"We're trying to make sure that the people understand the dire situation we're in right now," Buehler said. "They need to be careful. We can't prevent the lightning fires. We can prevent human fires."

---

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com