BLM issues Stage 1 Fire Restrictions for southern Utah

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Due to rapidly increasing fire danger, the Bureau of Land Management is implementing Stage 1 Fire Restrictions beginning May 22 at 12:01 a.m. on all BLM-managed lands in southwest Utah. Fire restrictions apply to Washington, Iron, Kane, Garfield, and Beaver counties in Utah. A digital copy of the map is available here.

From May 22 until rescinded, the fire prevention order prohibits:

• Building or maintaining any open fire or campfires using solid fuels, or any ash-producing fuel.
• Smoking, except within a vehicle or enclosed area.
• Grinding, cutting, and welding of metal.
• Operating or using any internal combustion engine without a spark arresting device properly installed and in effective working order.

The BLM asks target shooters to know their ammunition before visiting public lands. Ammunition packaging may not indicate the presence of steel in the bullet, especially in military surplus and foreign-made ammunition. To determine whether a bullet contains steel, test with a magnet. Orange or red painted tips may indicate tracer ammunition which can ignite flammable substances, such as dry grass, upon contact. 

BLM statewide fire prevention order UT914-25-001 prohibits fireworks, explosives of any kind, and tracer and incendiary ammunition year-round.

To prevent a wildfire, the public should:

• Fully extinguish campfires and avoid building fires when winds are 15 mph or higher.
• Avoid target shooting in hot, dry and windy conditions.
• Choose a target shooting backstop free of rocks and dry grass – any bullet hitting rocks can create a spark.
• Avoid cutting, welding or grinding of metal in areas of dry vegetation.
• Keep trailer chains lifted above the ground – dragging chains can create sparks.
• Avoid parking a hot vehicle over dry grass.
• Maintain tires, wheels and bearing on trailers to prevent mechanical failure.
• Check off-highway vehicle exhaust system yearly to ensure the spark arrester is mounted securely and is qualified.
• Fully extinguish and properly dispose of cigarettes.

BLM prevention orders are available at Utah - Fire Restrictions | Bureau of Land Management (blm.gov) and on utahfireinfo.gov. The public is reminded to use caution to prevent wildfires when visiting public lands. Please be prepared with water, a shovel and a fire extinguisher handy during the dry summer months. In the event of a fire, call 911 immediately.

For more details on the prevention order, contact Nick Howell, Fire Management Specialist, at [email protected] or 801-320-8345.