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NORTHERN UTAH -- Storms late Wednesday and early Thursday changed the intensity of Utah's wildfire season overnight. The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for most of the state. That means firefighters can expect significant lightning, hot and dry conditions, with a lot of wind.
The ridge over Davis County took off quickly Thursday morning as Chopper Five captured the initial attack. Firefighters battled the blaze from the ground and the air, but no firefight will be simple.
A helicopter, small air tanker, and 30 firefighters contained the Overlook Fire in the hills above Bountiful. Lightning struck just above the V on the mountain. Flames scorched more than 6 acres.
Firefighters quickly contained most of the starts, but the barrage tapped out their initial attack resources.
Dunford explained, "To get that many new starts, coupled with the wind and warm temperatures and low humidities, yeah, we got busy real fast."
Live 5 VIPIR recorded nearly 120 lightning strikes on the Northern Wasatch Front in a 15 minute period Thursday morning.
And the ones that present the greatest risks. In Tooele County, the Settlement Fire does not threaten homes, but officials warned campers in the area that that they may have to evacuate at a moment's notice if the fire spreads quickly.
Fire officials are requesting the voluntary evacuation of campers at the Wapiti Boy Scout Camp.
Up to this point, the fire officer says we've had a slower than usual fire season.
But most of the fuels across the state are very dry, and it doesn't take much in these conditions for a fire to go from 10 acres to 10,000 very quickly.
Firefighters are not aggressively fighting every fire that's burning in Utah right now. There are almost 20 active fires burning in the state. Intense suppression efforts are underway on some of them.
But others are being managed for resource benefit. In other words, they let them burn for environmental benefit until they become a danger to people or structures.
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Story compiled with contributions from Jed Boal and Becky Bruce.
