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Compared to Arizona and Colorado, Utah has been spared the worst of a very bad fire season.
At least so far.
But conditions just now are reaching comparable levels of concern and that's why big fires are suddenly erupting.
We've been a bit lucky so far. Slightly cooler, slightly wetter than our neighbors to the south and east. But that's changing. The woods...and the worry factor... are heating up.
Extreme fire behavior.
Unusual, almost unheard of fuel conditions.
Dave Dalrymple/State Fire Management Coordinator : "WE'RE LOOKING AT AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR. THIS IS NOT JUST A LITTLE DRYER THAN NORMAL. THIS IS WAY, WAY BEYOND IT."
Experts get alarmed when the moisture content of a forest is below 12 percent, parched as kiln-dried lumber. Right now, in most of Utah it's below ten percent. And in some places it's essentially zero. The so-called probability of ignition has risen to nearly 100 percent.
"SO EVERYWHERE WE GET A SPARK, WE'RE GETTING A FIRE. THINGS ARE SO DRY, THEY'RE GOING FROM ALMOST NOTHING TO LARGE ACRES IN JUST A MATTER OF A FEW MINUTES."
Right now, 8 big fires are burning in Utah. They've burned 120,000 acres plus. And it's likely to get a lot worse.
The Red Cross has begun calling trained volunteers, putting them on standby for the next two weeks.
Kathyrn Warner/American Red Cross : "WE MAY BE RESPONDING TO SOME FIRES, LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT BE A LEVEL THREE DISASTER, AND I'M JUST SEEING WHOSE AVAILABLE."
And they're calling on average citizens to be prepared, especially in vulnerable areas. The Red Cross says every family should have a survival kit close at hand, and an evacuation plan. For a quick getaway, they suggest parking the car facing out of the garage. The garage-door opener should be disengaged in case of power failure. And keys should be left in the car.
Susan Sheehan/American Red Cross: "THE STATE'S CONDITIONS STATEWIDE ARE AT VERY HIGH LEVEL FOR EXTREME FIRE DANGER SO WE DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO BE COMPLACENT."
Suprisingly, experts are relatively less concerned about grass fires in the West Desert. Because of the drought, the cheat-grass didn't grow as much this year, so there's less fuel to burn.
But in the forests, fuels have been building up for decades. And this year it's thoroughly drying out.
There are some extraordinary numbers to go with the extraordinary fire conditions across the West.
As of this morning there have been nearly 45,000 wildfires fires so far this year across the country.
That's just about exactly the average number up to July 1st over the last 10 years. But here's the key difference: acreage.
2.8 million acres have burned this year,
compared with the usual average of 1.1 million. That means the fires on average are two or three times as big.
