# Be careful out there



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

The recent warm dry weather is welcome to melt snow and dry wet ground so we can access our favorite recreation sites. But it is a double edged sword. The very wet spring has created an abundance of ground vegetation that can dry very quickly. I have noticed that the cheat grass is already ripening on the Salt Lake valley floor. In addition, many forested areas of the state like the Manti Mountains and the north slope of the Uintas have been ravaged by beetles leaving hundreds of thousands of dead standing trees with the needles still on them. And now we are late enough into the summer that what precipitation we get now will likely be in the form of thunder storms with accompanying lightning. The sum of these conditions is extreme fire danger.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks for the reminder campfire. It only takes a single careless moment....


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Good point campfire, even in places like Evingston that has no summer.


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## Leaky (Sep 11, 2007)

Might add - get off the water on lakes and ponds during a thunderstorm and watch for rattlers while fishing stream beds and lake shores, also hiking!!! I you're like me you have to be specially vigilant for rattlers since my hearing degradation makes it so I can't hear the buzz. Don't have Sparky for a while for my early warning system.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Leaky said:


> Might add - get off the water on lakes and ponds during a thunderstorm and watch for rattlers while fishing stream beds and lake shores, also hiking!!! I you're like me you have to be specially vigilant for rattlers since my hearing degradation makes it so I can't hear the buzz. Don't have Sparky for a while for my early warning system.


 I worry more about my dog than I do myself


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