- The Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake County is seeing a concerning purple color on cheatgrass.
- The purple color, usually seen in June or July, signals dry, flammable conditions.
- Unified fire officials emphasize preparation and public cooperation to mitigate wildfire risks.
HERRIMAN — Firefighters will often say wildfire danger is high, but they don't always say why it's high.
On Tuesday, a Unified Fire Authority wildland team toured a KSL crew around an area at the mouth of Butterfield Canyon to explain what is so concerning to the team about the current fire conditions.
There, Greg Vander Werff quickly pointed to the purple-colored cheatgrass that surrounded him.
"This is kind of an example of what we are up against in a dry wildland season," Vander Werff, a firefighter and paramedic with Unified Fire, said. "This is really the culprit."
Vander Werff said the purple color is something firefighters are used to seeing in these wildland areas later in June or in July.
Instead, it was only May.
"You can see how some of the parts are green, and then other parts are purple," Vander Werff explained as he grabbed a handful of the cheatgrass. "When it's purple, that means it's cured, and it's drying and it's ready to burn."
He outlined the scenario fire teams don't want to see.
"Cheatgrass cures, it gets really dry, ignites the ladder fuels, ignites the trees then it makes a run," Vander Werff said.
He said the conditions were consistently dry, like on hillsides and in other wildland areas around the Salt Lake Valley.
"It just primes the entire county for very high wildfire risk," Vander Werff said. "Every 24 hours, we're evaluating what the risk is in the county."
Vander Werff said the department was doing all it could to be ready, from operating a wildland specialty station in Herriman and employing a specially trained wildland "duty officer" at all times to assess fires as they start, to ensuring firefighters in the department have the proper wildland training.
He said Unified firefighters recently completed 3,500 combined hours of wildland training.
Firefighters urged the public to do what they can in the weeks to come to reduce the risk of fires by not parking on dry brush and ensuring vehicles are maintained properly and are not dragging things like chains.
Vander Werff also urged homeowners to mow fuels around their properties.
"It doesn't take much at all," he said of the potential to start a significant wildfire. "When it gets hotter and dryer, it's going to be off to the races."
