On July 31 the Upper Provo Fire began in the Uinta Mountains.
The fire was human-caused, though its specific origins remain under investigation. But five days after it was first spotted around midday Friday, the fire is still burning 480 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and is only 36% contained.
The Upper Provo Fire is just one of hundreds that fire officials have had to contend with since the year began. As of Aug. 2, the state of Utah had seen 951 total wildfire starts in 2020 — at least one ignition every day since April 18.
That pace is well ahead of the numbers from 2018 and 2019, and the fires have added yet another challenge to a state trying to juggle response to a global pandemic, economic fallout and a major earthquake. Utah's 2020 fires have so far burned about 186,000 acres and have occasionally even threatened population centers like Eagle Mountain.