SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City’s foothills are prime rattlesnake country, and it’s got firefighters there on high alert as they continue to battle the Bonneville Fire.
Crews have reported a handful of serpentine sightings, said Sierra Hellstrom, the spokesperson for the wildfire response, but no one has been bitten.
“Rattlesnakes are a big issue up in there,” Hellstrom said hillside early Monday during a morning news conference.
She later added: “There have been some close calls.”
The Salt Lake City wildfire started Saturday afternoon and is currently eating away at the grassy benches above the University of Utah. There, trail hikers and bikers frequently report coming across rattlesnakes.
The U.’s hospital, which also sits on the edge of the fire, confirmed one patient visited late Saturday for a snake bite. But it’s not possible to know whether the fire fueled that, and it’s not necessarily an increase, given the surrounding habitat.
“No other cases have shown up in the emergency department since then,” said Kathy Wilets, a spokesperson for University of Utah Health. “… As a precaution, we are going to message employees that they may see increased wildlife activity since the fire and to be aware, but no confirmed reports other than the one.”
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