Sunday Edition: Wildfires and criticism of District Attorney


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SALT LAKE CITY — In this Sunday Edition, the fire season is finally upon us. We'll talk to a fire meteorologist about predictions for the rest of the season. Plus, we'll take you back 25 years ago to the fire that gripped the entire nation, and see what we learned from Yellowstone. And, biting words aimed at Sim Gil from Salt Lake County GOP head. Doug Wright offers his opinion on the verbal spar.

Segment 1

This summer's hot temperatures had many people expected a lot more fires. Richard Piatt discussed the fire season and got predictions for the rest of the season from a meteorologist with the Bureau of Land Management.

Segment 2

Twenty-five years ago this summer, the entire nation watched as flames engulfed Yellowstone National Park. The 1988 fires were among the first in what has proven to be an upsurge in severe fires in the west.

At the time, forest officials faced a fire storm of criticism from the public for letting it burn. The public now has a better understanding of how important wildfires are as a natural clearing process. But at the time, it was hard to watch flames ravage Yellowstone's beautiful landscape.

1988 was the driest summer on record. Dry cold fronts brought high wind and lightning but no rain. More than 25,000 thousand fire-fighters and $230 million were used to fight those fires. That effort was effective in protecting property — the losses would total about $6 million in 2013. No firefighters died while fighting Yellowstone, though there were two fire-related deaths outside the park. In the end, Mother Nature ended what she started. On Sept. 11, 1988 it began to snow. Richard Piatt took a look back at that summer with former-KSL reporter Larry Lewis who covered the fires and aftermath extensively.

Segment 3

Salt Lake County GOP Chairman Chad Bennion is getting some heat for calling District Attorney Sim Gill a "cop hater" for saying West Valley City Police Department officers were not justified in the shooting of an unarmed citizen. Utah Policy asked 100 Utah political insiders if Bennion should apologize for his statement. Overwhelmingly, they think he should ( 71 percent of Republicans and 93 percent of Democrats). Doug Wright also offered his opinion in his weekly editorial.

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