Deseret News
Share this story
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Less than a year ago, Lehi resident Matt Gonzalez found himself in a “surreal” nightmare as a fast-moving wildfire approached homes along Traverse Mountain.
“It looked like the whole neighborhood was going to catch on fire at one time because, honestly, as close as our houses are if one house caught fire it would have been like a domino effect,” Gonzalez said.
The state experienced 1,547 wildfires in 2020, according to statistics provided by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, and the total cost to suppress those fires reached $60 million. And an ongoing drought impacting Utah is only increasing fire officials' worries that 2021 will be worse.