FARR WEST, Weber County — The Weber Fire District has already battled nearly a dozen fires and is concerned about the months ahead.

"From Jan. 1 to about March 17 of last year … we had two grass fires during that time period, and this year we've had 11," said Brandon Thueson, fire marshal for the Weber Fire District.

Firefighters say with the warm weather and all the vegetation that hasn't greened up yet, there's certainly more to come.

"We had a warm spell in January that we all enjoyed and then a little bit of moisture, and we're back to warm temperatures here again and so our fuels, our grasses that we have out there, they're pretty dry,” Thueson said.

Weber Fire Capt. Jeremy Winn said one crew responded to seven grass fires in one day this past week.

“Extreme fire behavior for this time of year is very unusual, and we’ve been seeing dramatic things happen,” Winn said.

Many of the fires started as a controlled burn, like the one this week in Plain City, and got out of control of those managing them.

Firefighters said a canal company started burning ditch banks. The company thought the flames were extinguished, but when the wind picked up overnight, hot spots flared up.

The fire burned about three acres, traveling along fields and into heavier vegetation, which is the biggest concern for the fire department. Firefighters said once flames spread into heavier vegetation, the fire can burn much longer.

Related:

Controlled burn gets out of hand; crews anticipate long, dry fire season

Crews continue to monitor a fire that started when a controlled burn got out of hand in west Weber County Tuesday night. The Plain City Fire Department is already preparing for an unusually dry season. (Photo: Derek Petersen, KSL-TV)

"We're in this transition time where the grasses really haven't woke up, and everything's still kind of coming out of its winter dormancy," Thueson said.

Now all of their men and women are getting outfitted for the wildfire season, something that is also a few weeks ahead of schedule.

"Every year we really prepare for the worst season possible, and we just hope for the best,” said fire warden Rick Cooper.

That's why they're also asking everyone to be careful, too.

"Use caution when you're out shooting or having a camp fire, or driving your ATVs through the grass. Even a vehicle, a full-size truck or car, can easily catch a grass on fire,” Cooper said.

With all that dry vegetation, it doesn't take much for something small and manageable to turn into something big and dangerous.

“Just be very cautious, very careful out there this year,” Winn said. "That fuel moisture, the leaves and grass, weeds and everything out there is just so dry that it will support really good flame lengths.”

They are urging people who have an approved controlled burn to have a good fire line because “a lot of times these controlled burns become uncontrolled burns very quickly,” Thueson said.

Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc, Mary Richards

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