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(KSL News) Fire conditions are so dangerous right now that much of the state is, or will soon be, under a red-flag warning.
Temperatures have been high. But the bigger problem will be hot, dry winds that hit Utah ahead of a cold front. Along with already-dry fuels like grass, it makes for extreme fire conditions.
The Interagency Fire Center is hoping to be ready if any wildfires break out.
Jeff Kline, a fire management officer for the Bureau of Land Management, explained, "We staff engines, wildland fire engines. We staff helicopters. We staff single-engine tankers, and we staff fixed-wing aircraft for air tactical missions."
Several wildfires have already burned. Experts say fuels are ready to burn a month earlier than normal this year.
Along with the usual culprits like matches and cigarette butts, sparks from bullets ricocheting off of rocks also start several fires a year.