Conditions contribute to mild wildfire season, officials say


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SALT LAKE CITY — While catastrophic wildfires ravage other states across the West, Utah has dodged the worst of it, so far. All of the Utah-based HotShot firefighters are helping firefighters battle massive blazes in neighboring states.

As of Thursday, there were only a couple of small fires burning in Utah, with no major threats. While the fire season is not over, state fire officials are surprised by what they've seen so far this summer. But it's not the number of fires that sets this year apart.

"Our fire starts and the number of starts is fairly on par with average," said Jason Curry, spokesman with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. "But the acres burned is well below normal."

Statewide, wildland fire crews have responded to about 500 wildfire starts this season. But the fires have only burned 3,000 acres. This time last year, wildfires had already scorched 28,000 acres, nearly 10 times the area. In 2013, 70,000 acres burned. In 2012, a total of 415,000 acres burned.

"It's remarkable," said Curry. "We've never seen that few acres burned when we are looking at end of July numbers."

In part, the fire official said we can thank the weather. Early in 2015, fire conditions in Utah were primed for a big year. The state received so little precipitation through the winter and early spring. May was very wet, and that helped grasses and other fire fuels flourish. When the grasses became a fire risk, early summer rains arrived to ease that threat.

"It made things stay greener longer," Curry said. "That's a huge part of it."

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He said cooler days and calm winds have helped along with rapid responses from local firefighting crews. The long-term forecast calls for more thunderstorms.

"We're just waiting to see if they bring moisture with them or not, and if we get more fires," said Curry. "That dry lightning is always our August surprise."

And sometimes, Utah receives a September surprise like the machine gun fire in 2010 in Herriman. That fire scorched 4,300 acres, destroyed three homes and forced more than 1,600 people to evacuate their homes.

Curry also reminds those who operate drones to keep them away from the fires. If firefighters see a drone in the sky, they have to shut down their aerial operations. That was a problem this week in California, where authorities are offering a reward leading to the drone pilots.

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Jed Boal

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