SALT LAKE CITY — It was an extremely busy Tuesday for firefighters throughout much of the state of Utah. Fires were sparked from Layton to Utah County and various points in between — and it’s still early June.
Technically, the fire danger remained low, but officials expect that to change over the next several days.
Tuesday morning began quietly for Layton residents Randy and Betty Craig. But Randy says that all changed about 10:30 a.m.
“All of a sudden, we just heard a big bang! I looked out the window, a big cloud of smoke, sparks flying all over the place, and immediately thereafter, a fire started in the field," he explained.
Randy called 911, then took some pictures and videos on his cell phone.
With everything being so dry around their own home, Randy said it’s something Betty actually mentioned to him on Monday.
WATCH: Crews continued to battle South Mountain Fire in Tooele County
“She was saying it was ripe for a fire. So we had a pretty good wind and it spread pretty quickly," Randy said.
Layton City Fire Chief Scott Maughan said he wasn’t surprised.
“It’ll go, and it goes faster than we can get in front of it sometimes," Maughan said.
Fortunately, Layton firefighters were on scene quickly, keeping the brush fire contained to a relatively small part of the field.
After the flames were out, investigators discovered a deceased squirrel. They said it may have been electrocuted on a power line, fallen to the ground and started the fire.
But that was just one of many blazes that sprang up Tuesday all along the Wasatch Front.
Children playing with matches sparked a one-acre field fire in Saratoga Springs.
There were also brush fires near Mountain View Corridor in West Jordan, in American Fork, and in Provo.
Just about all of them are due, at least in part, to our extremely dry spring.
Layton Fire Chief Scott Maughan said it’s a big concern.
“We’ve seen worse, but this one is starting out to be pretty dry, especially with the wind of late," Maughan said.
Maughan said his team now meets every morning, going over wind and weather reports while making sure their emergency vehicles are ready to go at a moment's notice.
“Fingers crossed we don’t need it, but that’s why we’re here every day!” he said.
Randy Craig said it made a big difference on Tuesday.
“The biggest fear was if it got in the trees going down the creek line, but gladly it didn’t get close enough.”
