Large fires are raging across the West as of Friday, including four in Utah, four in Colorado, two in Nevada, two in Idaho, two in New Mexico, one in Arizona, one in Wyoming and one in Montana, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
But people who plan to enjoy the outdoors can take precautions to reduce the risk of fires.
Among the most common mistakes people make are leaving campfires unattended or failing to fully extinguish them. Erin Collier is the director of education with the advocacy group Leave No Trace. She has advice on how to make sure fires are out before leaving a campground.
"You want to drown it with adequate water, stir it all up and then you hover your hand over to find those warm spots and then repeat that drowning and stirring multiple times until it's going to actually be cool to the touch," Collier said.
Collier recommends using pre-existing fire rings rather than starting a fire in a new spot because the heat can spread in unseen ways and can also harm ecosystems.
"They burn extremely hot, to the point where they can actually be sterilizing the soil around 6 to 12 inches deep," she said.
Collier advises checking the weather to see if there are any fire watch warnings and recommends having backup plans, especially if your campsite is out of cell service areas.
She also recommends being mindful of where you park. After a long drive, the heat from your car's engine can ignite dry, brittle grass.
For additional safety tips, you can check out the following resources:
To check on active fires across the country, you can visit these sites:
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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