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‘Take this seriously’: Summer has Utah fire officials concerned

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‘Take this seriously’: Summer has Utah fire officials concerned


Kyle Dunphey

(Utah News Dispatch) It might seem counterintuitive, but back-to-back winters with above-average snowfall has officials worried that this summer could bring large and dangerous wildfires to Utah.

That’s because a healthy snowpack leads to more vegetation — now, with what has been an abnormally hot and dry spring, that vegetation is drying out, making it prime kindling for a wildfire.

Chris Delainey, Utah’s fire management officer for the Bureau of Land Management, said the fire conditions heading into the summer are similar to years like 2020 or 2012, when the state was subjected to devastating blazes.

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“We’ve got more grass and more fuel than we’ve seen in quite some time. We’re seeing temperatures that are setting records early in June. I’m imploring folks to take this seriously,” he said. “We’re seeing conditions that line up with seasons where we’ve lost homes, we’ve seen people killed … conditions are aligning that have fire managers and fire chiefs very concerned.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called it the “perfect recipe for wildfire season.”

“You can look around here and you’ll see the fuel growth is much higher than it was two years ago,” Cox said, speaking from This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City on a hot Monday afternoon. “You can feel it. We are having above-average temperatures, a lot of heat in June. It’s much hotter than it should be this time of year.”

Cox spoke during the annual Fire Sense news conference, where officials from the Bureau of Land Management, Utah Office of Tourism and Salt Lake City Fire Department urged Utahns to be smart when recreating on the state’s public lands this summer. Roughly half of all wildfires in the state are human caused — in 2020, 4 out of 5 wildfires were triggered by people, burning over 100,000 acres in Utah.

“We desperately need people to step up,” Cox said. “Let’s be smart about what we’re doing and let’s keep Utah safe this summer.”

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For Utahns, that includes adhering to the state and Forest Service’s guidelines for campfires, ensuring heavy machinery is up to code, preventing chains and other metal objects from dragging behind trailers and vehicles, and following proper protocol when target shooting, like shooting into a backstop and not using banned ammunition.

Chris Milne, assistant chief for the Salt Lake City Fire Department, said homeowners should create buffer zones heading into the summer, which is essentially the space between a home and the vegetation that can burn. Embers from a wildfire can travel over one mile, and Milne said a buffer zone can prevent new fires from starting.

“It buys you time in order to protect your home from catching on fire and being able to evacuate, if you need to,” Milne said, adding that it allows firefighters to be more effective.

Basil Newmerzhycky, lead meteorologist with the Great Basin Coordination Center, an interagency group that includes the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service and state agencies, said the fire season is already picking up. Though it’s now 100% contained, the Rockville Fire in Washington County burned about 73 acres over the weekend.

The size of the Rockville Fire could spell trouble for Utah — Newmerzhycky said fires this time of the year are usually around 10 acres in size, not 50 to 100 acres. As the state continues to dry out, conditions will worsen.

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“We’re expecting fire conditions to really pick up as we get into July, especially the latter half of July,” he said.





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Utah

Washington EDGE Lance Holtzclaw transfers to Utah

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Washington EDGE Lance Holtzclaw transfers to Utah


Lance Holtzclaw has found a new home. The former Washington edge rusher entered the transfer portal after three years on Montlake and has signed with one of the Huskies’ former Pac-12 opponents, the Utah Utes.

Now in the Big 12, coach Kyle Whittingham’s team should be a good fit for the 6-foot-3, 225-pound pass rush specialist, which finished third in the conference in total defense, allowing 329.7 yards per game in its first year in the conference.

The Utes also finished fifth in the conference with 24 sacks, a statistic that Holtzclaw may be able to assist with if he can see the field more often.

In three years with the Huskies, the former three-star recruit who is originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, played in 26 games and tallied 13 tackles, 2 sacks, and a fumble recovery.

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Holtzclaw’s most notable moment in a Husky uniform came in Washington’s 26-21 win over the USC Trojans in November. He came in on fourth down and pressured quarterback Miller Moss, forcing an errant throw in the game’s final seconds. He also completes an effective defensive line trade between the two schools, after the Huskies added a commitment from former Utah defensive tackle Simote Pepa last week.



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Dybantsa, Mandaquit lead Utah Prep to ‘Iolani Classic title | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Dybantsa, Mandaquit lead Utah Prep to ‘Iolani Classic title | Honolulu Star-Advertiser




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Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets: Recap and Final Score

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Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets: Recap and Final Score


The Utah Jazz beat the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center with a final score of 105-94.

For the pro-tank Jazz fans, these type of games hurt. With this win, the Jazz move out of the bottom-three worst records in the league and would now fall behind the Nets in the lottery, should their records tie at the end of the season (pending Brooklyn’s visit to Utah on January 12th). With that said, losing this game would have proven difficult for Utah, as the Nets shot a shocking 7-40 from three, versus Utah’s 14-41. That type of three-point shooting discrepancy is almost insurmountable for any team in the NBA today.

The Jazz were led tonight by Lauri Markkanen’s 21 points and seven rebounds. Collin Sexton chipped in 18 points on 8-14 shooting, while Jordan Clarkson added another 16 points on 6-12 from the field. With Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski both assigned out due to G-League assignments, Utah’s rotation featured some less-frequented veteran faces. Svi Mykhailiuk pitched in 18 points tonight on 7-11 shooting from the field and 4-8 shooting from three. Micah Potter, while only given nine minutes, scored three points, grabbed two rebounds, and dished out two assists. While both Williams and Filipowski playing more minutes in the G-League does offer some developmental value, a game like tonight would have been a great opportunity to involve them more in the offense, rather than having players like Mykhailiuk eat up playing time. Hopefully the Jazz call up both sooner than later.

For the Nets, Cam Johnson led their team in scoring with 18 points. Ben Simmons offered a double-double, scoring 15 points and nabbing 10 rebounds.

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