Salt Lake County firefighters worked hard for six hours Wednesday to contain a Magna area grass fire Wednesday - the third blaze in the area in the past two days.
And officials feel certain that Wednesday's fire is merely a harbinger of what promises to be a long, hot, fire-prone summer.William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service's Salt Lake office, said he expects, "an early fire year, and I think it will be a long one."
Those sentiments are being echoed by officials from the U.S Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
Lynn Williams, state fire management officer for the BLM, said the fire danger has prompted his office to begin early hirings and has resulted in stationing a helicopter in Moab through July 1 to give fire crews quicker and better access to remote fires.
The south and southeast parts of the state will be most vulnerable, especially in heavily vegetated areas between 4,000 and 9,000 feet in elevation. "Those are the areas where we expect the most problem," Williams added.
Alder said the series of storms that have hit Utah this past month have done little to improve the situation. "The south winds have not helped; they dry things out very quickly."
Any area with a lot of fuel - timber or scrub oak-type vegetation - is especially vulnerable because the lack of prolonged moisture and the minimal snowpack has reduced the moisture content in the fuels themselves.
Williams said no Utah areas have been posted for fire restrictions thus far but expects such regulations to go into effect much earlier this summer than in the past.
Wednesday's fire started near 2100 South and 12000 West shortly before 1 p.m. The cause was apparently a hot spot from Tuesday's fire that charred nearly four square miles, said Salt Lake County Fire Lt. Jeff Johnson.
The Wednesday afternoon fire charred between 80 and 100 acres. Some power poles were in jeopardy, but none were damaged.
Seventeen firefighters with seven pieces of equipment fought the blaze, which was controlled about 7:45 p.m. Units from Midvale and Kennecott joined county firefighters.
Another fire occurred in the same general area Wednesday morning. It, like Tuesday's fire, was caused by train sparks but was extinguished within two hours.
Johnson said the fires occurred in swamp land south of Great Salt Lake. The top of the grass burns. The terrain made it difficult to battle the fire, as trucks couldn't move well in the muck, but they managed to control the blaze using the roads as defense lines.
What matters to the fire season is the lack of precipitation this year. Johnson said people need to be more informed and careful in their outdoor activities.
He said he has seen past drought seasons not end in bad fire seasons, but Utah's lack of moisture makes it "ripe" for a bad fire year.