WILDFIRE
Utah had better traditional fire season than last year
Nov 5, 2021, 9:29 AM
Photo credit: Unified Fire
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah saw significant improvements through the traditional fire season compared to 2020.
KSL.com reports there were 1,131 fires through October this year. While high, that is a 24% decrease from last year.
In April, state leaders sounded the alarm about the potential for a terrible fire season. At the time, excessive drought affected most of the state, temperatures were abnormally high, and it was difficult not to think back on the difficulties of 2020.
Not only were there fewer fires, but people also appear to have been more cautious. Approximately half of the fires were human-caused. That is a big improvement over last year where that number hovered around 75%.
Perhaps even more impressive, fire crews managed to keep most fires smaller than previous years. Firefighters kept them to an average of just 56 acres compared to roughly 200 acres last year, according to KSL.com.
However, the danger has not passed entirely. While the traditional fire season has ended, there is still plenty of time for fires to start. Officials hope Utahns remain cautious through the new year.
Visit KSL.com to read the full story by Carter Williams.
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