Conditions in Utah ripe for hot wildfire season

This summer could be a scorcher for crews battling wildfires in Utah.

A wildfire is already burning near I-15 and the town of Pintura in Washington County. At last report, the Color Country Fire Management office said the blaze had torched more than 300 acres of pinyon, juniper, sage and grass.

I-15 was closed for a brief time Friday night.

Nearby residential areas were threatened, said Anne Stanworth with Color Country Fire Management. However, she said, evacuations would only be necessary if the winds changed.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Stanworth said it is believed to be human-caused. Already, firefighters have had to deal with human-caused fires near Richfield and Moab, said Susan Marzec with the Bureau of Land Management's Fire Information Office.

"People aren't thinking it's fire season," she said Friday. "They're starting fires without realizing it's dry enough to have fires."

Washington County on Monday will enter a closed fire season. That means people who want to do any open or agricultural burning must have a permit from the county fire warden, local fire chiefs or the sheriff.

"Conditions in the southwest area of the state are favorable to wildland fire, so we feel it's appropriate to take action a bit early," said Tracy Dunford, the fire management coordinator for Utah's Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, in a statement. The rest of the state will enter a closed fire season on June 1.

Wildfires are expected to be prevalent this summer across the western part of Utah from Box Elder County to the Utah-Arizona border. Parts of southeastern Utah around Moab and Green River are also vulnerable, fire officials said.

"The interesting thing about fire in Utah is that sometimes we predict it's going to be in one location and it turns out to be totally different," Marzec said. "Conditions are ripe, especially in northern Utah. We've had a lot of rain and the rain brings on grasses, especially cheat grass. It burns like oil."

Southern Utah remains dry, making conditions volatile, she said.

Next week, more than 400 firefighters will be in Richfield for the Utah Wildfire Academy. They will undergo intensive training to be prepared to respond to wildfires all over the state. Many of those people will be volunteer firefighters, who are often the first responders to any incident.

State fire officials have been working with communities in vulnerable areas, helping them create fire breaks and protect homes. That came in handy during wildfires last year, said Jim Springer, a spokesman for the fire and forestry division.

"In Central and New Harmony, we prepared fire breaks around communities," he said Friday. "They were able to knock those fires down. The individual homeowners did a lot of the preparation."

Despite dire predictions, Utah is not considered one of the worst states for fires this year.

"The Southwest is much worse than we are," Marzec said. "When it comes to fire season, Mother Nature controls things. We respond."

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Contributing: Wendy Leonard

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com