NWS: Take precautions on properties after lightning causes fires

SALT LAKE CITY — There’s obviously no way of stopping lightning from striking, but the National Weather Service is advising those with properties to take inventory of dry fuels and take action to create defensible space around homes and structures after a string of brush fires were sparked overnight.

“They don’t want bushes up against their house that are dry,” says National Weather Service Meteorologist Mark Struthwolf. “If they are, remove them. Logs and any kind of lumber near the house, remove that as well. Keep the grass as short as possible.”

A large storm cell caused multiple fires in central Utah, and along the Wasatch Front, including near the ‘Y’ above Brigham Young University. There are a few dry days in the forecast, but moisture starts returning toward the northern part of the state near the end of the week.

Struthwolf says, “If it moves in first at high levels, and not at low levels, then we could see some dry lightning.”

According to the National Weather Service, conditions for lightning-started fires are prime after a dry winter and spring. The service suggests removing dry fuels from properties before tragedy strikes.