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SALT LAKE CITY — It is only the middle of March, but already the state’s firefighters are preparing for what they believe could be a very busy wildfire season — particularly in Utah’s Dixie.
It comes as a group of U.S. senators and representatives are proposing to change the way firefighting efforts are funded for the most devastating wildfires.
At the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, spokesman Jason Curry said crews are concerned about southern Utah because the winter has failed to lift the area from its ongoing drought.
“We’re going to have some fires, and we may even have some big fires,” Curry said. “So we’re preparing now.
State fire managers said the prevailing weather pattern is shaping up similarly to two bad fire years — 2005 and 2011.
“2011 (we were) just going from one fire to the next,” Curry recalled. “It was busy.”
2005 is considered to be southern Utah’s worst wildfire season in recent memory, with wildfires that burned more than 30,000 acres seeming almost routine that year.
Curry said crews are already out checking for moisture in fire “fuels” like grasses, brush and trees. He suspected the dry conditions could lead to more massive fires.
“We may not be able to catch as many of those fires in the early stages before they move into the heavier fuels and become more established and then demonstrate more extreme fire behavior,” Curry said.
With a nasty fire season projected across much of the dry West this year, some lawmakers are proposing paying for the biggest, most-costly fires with disaster relief dollars instead of fire prevention funds.
“The fires are getting bigger, hotter and lasting longer,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, Monday in Boise — which is home to the National Interagency Fire Center. “It’s been very clear we need a fresh approach.”
Last year, according to officials, wildfires across the country cost $500 million over what was budgeted. When that happens, lawmakers said prevention and restoration efforts get the short end — not enough money for things like clearing potentially hazardous dry brush.
“Stop raiding the BLM and Forest Service budget in order to fight these fires,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon.
Whether northern Utah is poised for a very active wildfire season remains uncertain. Curry cautioned that the potential is there again this summer for very destructive wildfires.
Already, he said, one grass fire was caused by spring burning.
“We’re certainly not out of the woods in northern Utah,” Curry said.
