RICHFIELD, Utah — Governor Spencer Cox surveyed the Monroe Canyon Fire on Friday, warning that the conditions fueling the out-of-control wildfire exist across Utah.
"These terrible conditions that are making it impossible to get ahead of this fire, exist in every corner of the state," he said at a news conference in Richfield. "It’s not just southern Utah, central Utah, it’s northern Utah, it is eastern Utah, it is western Utah. Everywhere we go right now? There is extreme fire danger."
Gov. Cox has declared a state of emergency for wildfire risk and the Utah State Forester moved most of the state into what are known as "Stage 2" fire restrictions.
"We don’t need to be more restrictive than we need to be, we like people to go out and do what they want to do," said Jamie Barnes, the Utah State Forester. "But I’m telling people, you need to be careful. These big fires we’ve seen? Some of them have been human-caused. I’m telling people do not have any fires."
Helicopter video from governor's tour shows size of Monroe Canyon Fire:
As of Friday morning, the human-caused Monroe Canyon Fire had torched more than 55,542 acres. Containment had dropped to 7% with erratic winds and extremely dry conditions fueling the wildfire. By Friday afternoon, some evacuation orders had been lifted, but remained in place for Burville. Highway 24, which had been closed on Thursday night, has been reopened "for now," said Sevier County Emergency Manager William Taufer.
"It's been a long time since we've had a big one like this," Gov. Cox said. "The odds of us putting it out anytime soon are pretty low, just to be honest. We know that the forecast is not great right now. We've seen the extreme fire behavior all day long, even at night when, usually, the fire beds down. We are not seeing that."
Watch Governor Cox's full wildfire briefing below:
For people like Pat and Kevin Taggart, the fire has hit them hard. About 90% of their ranch property has been destroyed by the fire.
"They called us Tuesday and said, 'We gotta get out, we can’t save it, sorry,'" Pat Taggart told FOX 13 News.
Kevin Taggart described the conditions.
"The dozer line was 100 yards. They said no fire will jump that," he said. "You ask about the conditions? With the extreme winds, one spark flew over 100 yards and that’s where it burned the place."
Residents in central Utah remain wary of the fire as crews continue to come in to battle the blaze. However, Gov. Cox told FOX 13 News he worries about resources being stretched too thin if other parts of the state start seeing major wildfires like Monroe Canyon.
"There’s no room for error in the slightest with fire," said Greg Jensen, a Sevier County Commissioner whose family also lost property in the fire. "For the people of Sevier County? Just keep supporting these firefighters."
The state of emergency for wildfire risk will run for the next 30 days. After that, the Utah State Legislature must get involved. However, Utah State Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said in a statement to FOX 13 News late Friday that he would have no issue extending it should the governor ask.
"Utah is currently experiencing a severe drought and heightened wildfire activity. The safety of Utahns and firefighters remains a top priority. As we take action to address these challenges, I support extending the wildfire emergency and evaluating raising the berm along the Great Salt Lake as a measure to address declining lake levels," he said.
