In Utah 128,800 homes are at high risk or extreme risk from wildfires, according to Verisk is an insurance risk firm. The Utah Climate Center’s Martin Schroeder said as of June 27, 23 high temperature records were broken in June in Utah with no relief until Sunday - increasing the risk of fires.
Jason Curry is the public information officer for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands and said the biggest mistake people make is thinking it won’t happen to them.
“Anything you can do to prepare, " Curry said. "Especially if you have to evacuate. It’s something that people need to prepare for, need to have things all ready and if we say it’s time to evacuate it’s not something to take lightly.You need to get moving, and that Red Cross app is something to help people to prepare.”
Rich Woodruff is the director of communications for the Red Cross.
“In Utah, wildfire and earthquakes are the most prevalent," Woodruff said. "So the reason we came up with it is was to basically help people; give them some good ideas, how to prepare, maybe to mitigate against being at risk. Also during the event it’s got real time information such as if there’s shelter locations, maybe road closures, and then of course, what do you do afterwards. So it’s, ‘Prepare, Respond, and Recover.’ It’s live information and it’s basically preparedness information that’s stored in there.”
Curry said the ultimate thing communities can do to protect their homes is to contact their local fire department to create a Community Wildfire Preparation Plan. He says of the 400 communities in Utah, only about 100 have plans in place. With summer just starting, he said the risk of more fires is rising.
“This hot weather has increased the number of starts we’ve gotten and also increased the acreage that those fires reached," Curry said. "We’ll most likely see more starts as the rest of the day goes on and the rest of the week goes on.”
Curry said homeowners can take steps toward protecting their homes that are as easy as cleaning out your rain gutters.