PLEASANT GROVE — Firefighters in Pleasant Grove are wasting no time preparing for what they believe could be a very active wildfire season.
It's only mid-April, and Utah has already seen more than 100 wildfires this year. Fire officials said 85 of those fires were caused by people.
"This year could be very dangerous. We're just wanting to get ahead of it and get ready for the season now," said Pleasant Grove Battalion Chief Jake Larsen.
That preparation at the Pleasant Grove Fire Department is the reason behind an intense training program recently completed by Pleasant Grove wildland firefighters called Critical 40. The course consists of 40 hours of hands-on, high-level wildfire training.
Pleasant Grove Fire Lt. Zack Larsen, who helps oversee the training, said it covers everything firefighters need to understand about fire behavior in unpredictable conditions.
"Going over fuels, weather, topography (and) learning how to read storms," he said.
With the weather Utah has already experienced this year, fire officials said the conditions are concerning.
"This year could be very dangerous," Larsen said. "We're worried about the dry fuels, and that's our biggest concern."
Larsen adds that the lack of snowpack has made the problem worse, especially with invasive grasses.
"Faster-moving fires, more aggressive fires," he said. "There's been no snowpack to kind of push down the cheatgrass, so cheatgrass is going to stand tall."
Related:
How this year's historically low snowpack will affect the West
Without the largest, cheapest "reservoir," Utah water managers expect several impacts this summer.Firefighters are reminding residents — especially those who live near the foothills — to clear dry debris from around their homes and create defensible space between vegetation and structures to reduce fire risk.
"As the temperatures go up, we need to be super careful," Larsen said.
