Firefighters urge Utahns to use ‘FireSense’ to prevent wildfires

SALT LAKE COUNTY — A 100-acre wildfire along the shore of the Great Salt Lake two days ago was a wake-up call for wildfire season. Interagency firefighters are urging Utahns to use their FireSense to prevent wildfires. They hope to repeat the success of the program.

FireSense means that every Utahn has a role to play in practicing good judgment whenever they’re outside to avoid starting wildfires. There have already 90 fire starts this year. None of them are actively burning.

“Our lands are very dry. Our soil is dry, and this is all setting us up for potentially a difficult fire year,” said Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, at a press conference including interagency firefighters.

State, federal, and local firefighters are gearing up for what they expect will be an intense and challenging wildfire season.

“We can’t let our guard down, and right now we need every single Utahn to be personally responsible for the way they recreate,” Henderson said. “Recreate responsibly.”

Drought continues to plague the state, and fire weather specialists predict above normal fire potential this summer. Even though Utah has had rain recently, long-term models show a dry summer ahead.

Last year, the state rolled out the FireSense campaign and Utahns responded to that call to action.

“We can actually make a difference. We showed that last year in terms of the human caused fire starts that went down. This next year we hope to do the same,” said Brian Steed, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

That good fire sense helped decrease human-caused fire starts by 51%: nearly 600 wildfires that never started in 2021 compared to 2020.

“But, it’s never quite enough,” Steed said. “We’re here today with these interagencies to ask the public to continue this trend to prevent human caused wildfires.”

“Prevention of wildfires takes a concerted effort by everyone, whether that’s agencies, homeowners, the recreating public coming in from outside the state to make a difference and keep the number of human starts low,” Kevin Greenhalgh, deputy director of Regional Fire and Aviation Management said.

Know the weather when you head out; winds can take a small spark and turn it into a big fire.

Be aware of fire restrictions.

When camping, make sure you always have a way to extinguish a campfire completely.

Know the equipment you’re operating if it has the potential to cause a fire.

Don’t park a hot vehicle on dry grass.

“Be aware that chains dragging from the trailer can spark a fire, or that if you pull that warm car onto dry grass that’s a very frequent cause of fire,” Steed said.

If you plan to burn debris, make sure that it’s legal, and there’s no wind.

Don’t target shoot near dry grass, rocks and metal.

“Our actions do have an impact for the potential for causing catastrophic burns,” the DNR Director said. “If we are mindful of that, I’m absolutely confident that Utah can get ahead of this problem, and that we can make sure that we’re not doing stupid things.”

For more information on how everyone can help prevent wildfires, check out utahfiresense.org.