It s one of the worst Utah droughts in the past 20 years, and the number of human-caused wildfires is nearly double the average so far this season.
Zion National Park officials and Color Country Interagency Fire managers held a press conference just outside the south entrance Thursday to ask for the public s increased help in suppressing wildfire danger. The conditions that we re seeing this year we have seen in the past only one or two times in the recorded weather charts and fuels dangers history that we have, Greg Barton, fire and aviation officer for Zion National Park and the Utah parks group, said.
KUER
A fire just outside the entrance of Zion National Park burned four and a half acres in late February.
Fire officials are urging people to change their behavior outdoors amid record dry conditions and rising visitation numbers in southwest Utah.
Land and fire managers from throughout the region gathered Thursday at Zion National Park on the site of the park’s first ever February wildfire. It was human-caused and scorched four and a half acres.
Greg Bartin, a fire management officer for the park, stood on the burn scar just outside of the main entrance and turned to look at the lines of cars entering the park.
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As Utah’s snowpack continues to dwindle and fires across the state continue to spark, experts are warning of a difficult road ahead in this severe drought.
Snowpack is very low this year and is “just falling apart,” said Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey. Right now, he said, it’s about 33 percent of normal.
“Most of that water is being soaked up by our really dry soils,” Clayton told 2News. “That means that a lot of that water isn’t getting into our streams and reservoirs.”
In some places, Clayton said, conditions are potentially the worst on record.
Human-caused wildfires continue to burn across Utah
Utah Fire officials concerned with alarming fire conditions
and last updated 2021-05-06 19:31:42-04
SALT LAKE CITY â Just five months into the year and Utah has already had 185 wildfires, with more than 6,000 acres burned across the state; all but three were human caused fires. Conditions are really alarming across the state. We are concerned, said Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) fire prevention coordinator, Kait Webb. There s drought over almost the entire state right now, and we are anticipating hot and dry summer.
According to FFSL, fire managers across Utah are reporting fuel moisture levels and fire activity not usually seen until the hotter and drier months of June and July.