A Get Gephardt investigation reveals the shocking way ordinary Utahns are starting fires without knowing it, and what you’ll have to pay if you start a fire by accident.
538 wildfires have already flamed in 2019. Even with the late rain, we are on track to match 2018's fire totals.
All that firefighting costs millions. More often than not, it's you, the taxpayer, who picks up the tab.
Looking through public records, Get Gephardt found what appears to be a new trend: going after the folks who actually start a blaze.
For the past decade, prosecutors only went after a handful of people, 10 or fewer. Then, in 2017, there were 26 prosecutions. The number jumped more, to 41, in 2018.
"The public is fed up with all the reckless and negligent and intentional things that people are doing to cause these wildfires," said Jason Curry with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.