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Wasatch Front air quality ‘healthy,’ but fireworks season could change that

Posted at 7:42 PM, Jun 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-28 00:36:48-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Fire fighting resources in the Great Basin are "tapped," after a series of fires sparked overnight Monday in Southern Idaho.

"We are a little tapped. We are rearranging as we can," said Gina Dingman, Manager of the Great Basin Coordination Center.

Residents of Utah's Wasatch Front felt the impact of the additional fires as westerly winds carried smoke from Nevada, Box Elder County, and Southern Idaho into Utah's most populous counties.

Meantime, the smoke from the giant Brian Head fire is not making it's way to Utah's bigger cities.

"The disbursement of the smoke is probably going due east of the fire there," said meteorologist Monica Trap Hagen of the National Weather Service.

The Utah Division of Air Quality reports healthy levels of particulate in the air in Wasatch Front Counties, but they say that could change as dry weather continues and residents start lighting fireworks before and after the Independence Day Holiday. ​