The latest on active fires that are at least 100 acres large and/or have forced evacuations.Current Conditions:
- Friday, June 24 @ 9:48 p.m. — There are no red flag warnings in effect. The National Weather Service expects heavy rain and thunderstorms in southern and central Utah. There’s a threat of flash flooding happening Sunday afternoon, and the places in the most danger are slot canyons, dry washes and areas near recent burn scars.
The Left Fork Fire is burning in Kane and Garfield counties in the Dixie National Forest. It’s estimated to be 4,241 acres and is 5% contained. Decreased temperatures and some moisture in the area has helped officials directly fight the fire. It started on May 9 because of the remaining heat from a prescribed burn in the area back in April. It was mostly contained within a few days at 98 acres, but it reignited on June 19 because of extreme weather conditions. Residents of Bryce Woodlands Estates were issued evacuation orders, but those are being lifted 8 a.m. on June 25. Though officials warn people to stay ready to evacuate again if fire activity changes. There are road closures in the national forest.
A real-time source of all active wildfires and projects across Utah, which is regularly updated by state fire officials.
2022 Wildfire Stats:
As of June 22, there have been 245 wildfires that have burned 5,256 acres this year in Utah. Of that, 84% have been human-caused. Last year, there were 425 fires at this time and 80% of them were because of people. In 2020, which was a record-breaker for human-caused fires, there were 440 fires by this time and 70% were because of people.
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Fires are monitored after they’re contained, but hot spots can spread when there’s high wind and temperatures, as well as low humidity. -
People are the leading cause of fires in Utah. Currently, the biggest concern for officials is campfires.
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People caused around half of the wildfires in Utah this year. Fire officials say this development is promising because it’s down from the previous two years.
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Bad air quality can lead to several health issues, but not everyone can afford to stay inside and out of the smoke.
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Earlier this year, fire potential was high because of human-caused starts and restrictions were put in place to tamp down on them. Now, they’re being lifted because of improved conditions and human behavior.
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The Parleys Canyon Fire has some officials looking ahead at emergency preparedness, specifically evacuations. One wildfire expert gives advice on how to prepare for one.
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Algunos residentes de habla hispana tuvieron que esperar hasta que residentes bilingües colgaran información sobre las evacuaciones en las redes sociales. Ahora, el condado busca implementar un sistema de alerta de urgencias bilingüe.
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Some Spanish-speaking residents had to wait until bilingual speakers posted updates about evacuations on social media. Now, the county is looking at implementing a bilingual emergency alert system.
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A catalytic converter started an aggressive wildfire off the side of I-80 near the Lamb’s Canyon exit Saturday afternoon.
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Utah’s Fire Season Has Been Quiet So Far This Year, But Officials Say We’re Not Out Of The Woods YetThere’s been almost a 40% drop in human-caused fires in Utah this year. That combined with recent storms in Southern Utah has led to a “quieter” season.
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Health officials are saying it’s unsafe for everyone to be outside this weekend because of wildfire smoke blanketing Northern Utah. The smoke is coming from wildfires burning in California though, not Utah.
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Severe wildfires across the West have prompted the nation’s top fire agency to increase its preparedness level to the highest and most critical stage — the earliest the agency has done so in a decade.
