VEYO, Utah — Seven major wildfires are burning across Utah Wednesday with three burning in southern Utah.
The growing fires are a testament to how dry conditions are across the state.
Peg Haslam is thankful her house is bright pink instead of dark black.
"I just feel blessed,” Haslam said.
From the sky, firefighters dropped gallons of fire retardant on her roof and surrounding property, likely saving it from the flames.
“We’ve had no moisture at all,” said Haslam.
Fire conditions remain critical across the state, highlighted by the 71 new wildfire starts over the last week. State firefighters say resources are busy battling all of them.
“Tough conditions for firefighters but they are working through it,” said Kevin Abel, US Forest Service.
Grasses and trees are very, very dry across Utah. The weather is hot and when the winds pick up, fires are able to make a run over mountains and close to homes.
“Firefighters were faced with a lot of dust a lot of ash blowing into their faces along the western edge. Very dusty, very dirty and a little bit of flying ash and debris,” said Abel.
Eighty-one percent of fires are human-caused this year. Haslam hopes people understand what’s at stake when they’re reckless.
"I don’t think people really realize how dangerous it really is this time of year. They need to be careful,” said Haslam.
A drone intrusion Tuesday halted firefighting efforts in the sky, another thing making it difficult to fight these flames.
