Is Utah at risk for wildfires similar to those in Los Angeles?

WILDFIRE EXPERT RESPONDS

J. Bradley Washa
Utah State University Extension

As we see the devastation in the Los Angeles Basin, many wonder if Utah could experience a similar wildfire event. My experiences as a wildland firefighter and work with Utah State University Extension could provide a few insights.

My Discoveries

In June of 2012, I was assigned to the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado. The fire started from an abandoned campfire and moved from the forest into the wildland/urban interface, where homes are built into the forests and rangelands. At the time, the fire became the most destructive in Colorado history, burning 346 homes and killing two civilians. Then, in 2021, my home and many others in Salt Lake and Summit Counties were evacuated due to the Parley’s Canyon Fire near Park City.

After the Waldo Canyon Fire, I examined my home and its surroundings and made some adjustments. My home is on a flat, northern area surrounded by green grass, where vegetation is less likely to burn. Following wildfire mitigation standards, I did not plant any trees or shrubs within 30 feet of my home and I used river rock instead of wood chips next to the base of the house.

Before I reported to assist in fighting the Parleys Canyon Fire, I looked at my home again to determine if my mitigation efforts would help save it from wildfire. My biggest concern was the possibility of embers flying into wood chips. Though they were away from my house, they were near a wooden fence connected to the house. I also had a small pile of firewood on my patio. Before evacuating, I removed the fence connecting to the house, opened the gate, and positioned a garden hose in the front yard. I also moved the firewood away from the house. Many elements came together for a successful suppression outcome, and no homes were burned in the Parleys Canyon Fire.

Parallels Between California and Utah

Utah and California continue to see development in the wildland/urban interface. Along the Wasatch Front, homes continue to be built further up into the foothills and benches and throughout Utah. As the population increases, we see development farther away from communities in areas at a higher risk of wildfires.

Insurance companies have dramatically increased rates or dropped homeowner insurance in California because of wildfire losses. This is also happening throughout the West, including in Utah. While insurance companies have a role in protecting homeowners from losses, they are also a business and need to have a positive overall return on their investment to remain viable.

Utah has experienced a number of recent wildfires with structural losses. In 2017, the Brian Head Fire in central Utah destroyed 13 homes, costing about $34 million to fight. A year later, the Dollar Ridge Fire in Wasatch and Duchesne counties destroyed or damaged 80 homes and nearly 400 trailers, sheds and vehicles, which was Utah’s most destructive wildfire in terms of structure loss. Last summer, the Sandhurst Fire started on Ensign Peak, just above the Utah State Capitol. While no structures were lost, the fire caused evacuations and demonstrated that Salt Lake City is at risk of wildfire.

Differences between California and Utah

Utah wildland fire response organizations are capable and well-equipped. Compared to federal, state, county and local fire management agencies and departments, California likely has the largest wildfire response organization in the world. But even so, we saw that suppression alone is not the solution to reducing losses.

California’s Santa Ana winds are powerful and typically occur under warm and dry conditions. Much of California’s coastal areas are Mediterranean ecosystems where wet winters promote vegetation growth that dries out under hot and dry summers. While Utah’s Wasatch Front experiences strong east winds, they often follow cool, wet frontal passages. But the Wasatch Front encounters downslope canyon winds from nighttime into the early morning hours.

The 2017 Uintah Fire was an example of these diurnal winds burning three homes as the fire ran parallel to I-84 and riparian areas along the Weber River.

California has a much greater population and areas with higher densities, and wildfires have a history of becoming urban conflagrations. Wildfires often leave the wildlands and spread from house to house. In some urban firestorms, vegetation is left unburned, but the homes are lost to fire.

What We Can Do

We can learn from Greg Chasen, a Santa Monica-based architect who designed a house that survived the Palisades Fire when all the neighboring homes burned. He shared with KTLA TV in Los Angeles features of the house that contributed to its survival. He said there was no vegetation except for planters, a fire-resistant roof and siding and a brick-and-mortar retaining wall. There were also no vents or eaves, and the house had tempered glass widows with a solid concrete perimeter.

Shared Responsibility

When weather, topography and fuels align, wildfires will behave on their own terms, no matter how many engines, crews or aircraft are available or how ample the water supply is. Those who live in the wildland/urban interface have a shared responsibility with those around them to learn to live within the wildland fire zones. This extends from developers using hazard mitigation methods in laying out a neighborhood with sufficient water supplies to homeowners implementing firewise home and defensible space measures. There is also the continued use of prescribed fire and vegetation treatments in the wildlands and supporting the suppression response to wildfire.

While Utah would likely not experience the level of devastation seen in California, there is much to be learned from these firestorms. For additional information on what you can do now to help protect your home from a wildfire, see Preparing Homes for Wildfire and the USU Extension Firewise Landscaping publications available through the USU Extension Service.

J. Bradley Washa is an assistant professor of wildland fire science at Utah State University in Logan. He can be reached a brad.washa@usu.edu.