Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildfire Response topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Officials: Yellow Lake Fire burned about 33,000 acres; 86% burned at low intensity, ongoing monitoring planned
Summary
Forest service representative thanked Wasatch County for support and said the Yellow Lake Fire, started Sept. 28 and human-caused, grew to roughly 33,000 acres with estimated suppression costs around $35 million; 86% of the area did not burn at high intensity, officials said, and cleanup and winter monitoring will continue.
Dano, the incident representative who briefed the council, said the Yellow Lake Fire began on Sept. 28 and was human-caused. "It moved through the process on the investigation," he said, and the incident burned about 33,000 acres with suppression costs he estimated at roughly $35 million. He thanked Wasatch County for logistical and emergency-services support during the response.
Dano told the council that about 86% of the burned area "did not burn at a high intensity," which he said should allow substantial regeneration of aspen and lower long-term ecological damage than a stand-replacing burn. "That means that we are gonna see very good regeneration on a lot of our aspens," he said.
He described continuing work on cleanup, timber salvage and fuel mitigation, and said the incident remains under investigation. On cost-sharing he said federal funds will cover most suppression costs but staff were still negotiating a state cost-share because the fire crossed onto private lands near Hannah. "We are still working on the challenge cost share agreement with the state because it did run into some private lands," he said.
Council members asked about risks from residual hot spots. Dano warned that embers inside tree roots or stumps can smolder through winter under insulating snow and re-emerge in dry, windy spring conditions; the district will monitor priority spots through winter to avoid restarting incident responses. He also told the council that he does not expect major watershed impacts but said sedimentation at some intakes near Hannah means the county will coordinate with Central Utah Water on repairs and monitoring.
On wildlife, Dano said the fire moved animals temporarily but that state staff expect wildlife and vegetation to rebound over several years as aspen and other cover regenerate. He recommended continuing timber sales, fuel-break work and prescribed fire as part of long-term landscape management.
The council thanked Dano and noted the ongoing need to coordinate restoration, access and financial recovery as the county moves into the recovery phase.
