Summit County was largely spared from damaging wildfires last summer but officials are predicting a return to an average fire season this year, noting slightly higher temperatures than normal along with lower humidity and precipitation.
Officials are also continuing work to increase the county’s hardiness against wildfire, targeting four additional West Side neighborhoods to achieve a national fire readiness designation and offering programs countywide to help homeowners create defensible space around their homes.
There have already been 17 fires in the county this spring, said Summit County Fire Warden Bryce Boyer, most of which began as controlled burns but were impacted by high winds. And a 680-acre blaze in Wasatch County started May 12 and had been 85% contained a week later. Officials have indicated it is early for a fire of that size, but that it may have been started intentionally.