PAGE, Ariz. — It was much worse over the weekend, but on the shores of Lake Powell on Monday, there's still a smell of smoke in the air, along with tiny particles of ash falling as wildfires burn nearby. All of Utah is now dealing with smoky conditions rising from wildfires in Arizona, as well as the Monroe Canyon fire in Sevier County.
But relief is on the way.
"It's pretty bad," said resident David French. "Being out on my porch, which I like to do and watch the dusks, the dusk colors come at about 3:00 instead of 6:00. Also, it's raining ashes. That's not fun. It's starting to hurt your throat, hurt your lungs.
"Yeah, it's pretty sad."
Over the weekend, smoke from two Arizona wildfires that have been burning since the start of the month shifted and became a nuisance to Utahns. The smells, the ashes and the haziness of the fires are very much being felt throughout the state.
Video below from the Int'l Space Station shows massive plume of smoke from Monroe Canyon Fire (SEN):
It’s not just locals at Lake Powell, like French, who are dealing with the conditions, but visitors like Dan Letellier from Denver as well.
"Two days ago, the ash was actually falling. So we had ash all over the boat, all over our toys," Letellier explained.
There's some good news as the National Weather Service said Monday that smoke from the Arizona wildfires will stick more to Arizona starting Tuesday morning, but the heavy smoke from the Monroe Canyon Fire will continue in the vicinity of Richfield.
Things had already appeared to improve somewhat by Lake Powell.
"Today’s a little less bad," Letellier said. "Not as bad as before."
