A mild fire season anticipated in county

With average precipitation and above average temperatures forecasted for the next few months, the upcoming fire season isn’t anticipated to be severe in Sweetwater County.

Mike Bournazian, the Sweetwater County Fire Chief, said there’s a low potential for large-scale wildfires in the area.

“It’s not alarming, it falls into what would be expected to be a mild fire season,” Bournazian said.

The fire season in Southwestern Wyoming is late July through September

While the heavy winter moisture has resulted in more grass, and fuel, for fires, Bournazian said the overall fuel moisture, a measure of how hydrated plant material is, looks promising.

Another beneficial aspect to a mild fire season, continued snowpack in the higher elevations, will also keep the threat of large fires low.

While the threat of a large-scale fire is anticipated to be low, Bournazian said concerns exist with microclimate areas that typically dry faster than other locations. He said lightning storms are always a big player in wild fires. If the thunderstorm brings moisture, Bournazian said the fires are kept small as a result. Without that moisture, a dry thunderstorm in the wrong place could still result in a large fire.

A second concern is an invasive weed known as cheatgrass growing throughout the county.

According to a Utah State University webpage regarding the invasive weeds, titled “The Great Basin and Invasive Weeds,” cheatgrass came to the U.S. sometime between 1850 and 1890 through contaminated grain seed, straw packing material and soil used as ballast for ships sailing from Eurasia.

“Because cheatgrass stands dry out by mid-June, fires are more likely to occur earlier in the season. These mid-summer fires are tough on native forbs and grasses. Cheatgrass seeds drop prior to fires and will germinate with fall precipitation. This gives rise to dense, continuous stands that make additional fire ignition and spread more likely,” the website states.

As a fire fuel, Bournazian said cheatgrass can ignite from even the smallest sparks.

“It burns almost like gasoline, it can readily ignite,” he said.

Despite how quickly a patch of cheatgrass can burn, Bournazian said the weed doesn’t generally grow in large fields and is more often found mixed with native grasses and sagebrush. The moisture content of native plants can help limit the spread of a cheatgrass-fueled fire.

Bournazian said while the fire threat is low now, what the weather turns out to be during the next few months may cause firefighters throughout the region to revise their predictions.