Utah Drought Fuels Fires: Squirrel and Kids Spark Blazes

Utah is suffering from such dry conditions that a group of kids with a lighter and a squirrel managed to start separate brush fires within hours, according to local media reports.

The ongoing severe drought in Utah has created the perfect conditions for destructive fires, prompting officials to warn that this year’s fire season could be particularly severe. Those concerns were highlighted Tuesday after firefighters battled two separate blazes in northern Utah.

A squirrel tangled in a power line managed to spark a half-acre brush fire Tuesday morning in Layton, a suburb of Salt Lake City, according to local outlet FOX 13. Later that day, a group of children reportedly started a brush fire that burned an acre in Saratoga Springs, a city on the northwestern shore of Utah Lake. Media reports indicated they were playing with matches, but the Saratoga Springs Fire Department later confirmed it was a lighter.

Both fires were extinguished, and it appears no one was injured, according to FOX 13. The Independent has requested more information from fire officials in Layton and Saratoga Springs.

This comes as firefighters battle multiple major blazes throughout the state.

The South Mountain Fire in northwestern Utah has burned through more than 1,800 acres and was at 40 percent containment as of Wednesday morning. The Tower Fire, which is burning near the small town of Scipio in central Utah, is currently 34 percent contained after spreading to more than 1,300 acres.

Utah fire officials have warned the ongoing drought, combined with warmer temperatures and low snowfall earlier this year, led to lots of dry vegetation that could serve as fuel for destructive fires.

“This year's conditions, even more than recent years, are raising concern," Salt Lake City Fire Chief Karl Lieb said at a press conference last month.

“If we all take this seriously now, our agencies and the public together, we can reduce the number of fires, limit how fast they spread, and better protect the communities we all care about,” Unified Fire Chief Dominic Burchett added.

Officials are asking residents to take steps to prevent wildfires, such as refraining from starting campfires on windy days and exercising caution when shooting outdoors.

“We identify target shooting as one of the behaviors that contribute to human-caused wildfires in the state,” a spokesperson for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and Estate Lands told ABC 4 this week.