Fire crews starting fires in hopes to reduce potential threats


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KAMAS, Summit County — Fire officials are intentionally starting fires and controlling them in the Wasatch National Forest in hopes to reduce potential threats later on.

These efforts help officials prevent some of the larger wildfires by getting in front of blazes and slowing down growth, according to Daniel Jauregui, Heber-Kamas Forest Service District ranger.

“This kind of helps us kind of get ahead of the game,” Jauregui said.

Their objectives are to stimulate aspen regeneration and improve wildlife.

Approximately 5,000 acres near Kamas are part of this project at a cost close to $80,000. During summer months, the cost to fight a wildfire can cost millions of dollars.

“These little small things that we’re doing right now, they’re huge benefits in the future,” Jauregui said. “That’s what we’re doing. That’s part of our job.”

The crews start fires using a helicopter that drops small balls of magnesium that ignite.

As they work along the forest floor, the crews drip burning fuel on the fires, said Toby Weed with the Forest Service.

The crews let it burn and then put it out. With all the overgrowth and dead timber in the area from the pine beetle, officials say fire is important and part of the forest’s natural cycle.

“You’ve got the system out there that needs it, and so by eliminating fire in the past like we have, it’s time to put it back in there and get this thing operating like it should,” Jauregui said.

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