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CACHE COUNTY — As the extreme drought continues to dry out vegetation, the fire danger is juicing up. On KVNU’s For the People program on Tuesday, Cache County Fire Chief Jason Winn said things are getting serious much earlier this year and he is concerned.
“We’re a little nervous, usually our fire season up in Cache Valley really doesn’t start until the end of July, first of August. But this year, it’s starting quite early, so every day you wake up and you wonder what’s going to happen today.”
The occasional lightning fire notwithstanding, Winn said the vast majority of fires in Utah are human caused. With all the dangers that fire crews are exposed to, they do thorough training beginning early in the year.
“We train throughout the year, we start in the winter time to start getting ready for the summertime with all the classes and certification and physical agility stuff we have to do. But…it’s hard on firefighters especially in the wild land, especially this time of year.”
Winn said everyone needs to remember that the state has put a ban of fireworks in the unincorporated, private and state lands, so anything out of city limits is off limits. Cache County has released a map with the restrictions in each city in the county. He said if people do shoot off fireworks legally they need to remember the 4 B’s.
“Be prepared, be responsible, be safe and be aware. And so just be prepared- always have water handy with you, have a garden hose, you have buckets of water just in case something happens.”
You can see the comprehensive firework restrictions map and city restrictions at CacheCounty.org.
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