Utah Wildfires

This year we seem to be having more wildfires in Utah close to where we live. There was a fire on the hill west of Saratoga Springs, and also a fire south of Mount Nebo. This has resulted in quite a bit of haze in the valley. It is especially noticeable in the evening as the sun is setting.

I was headed north to take pictures of the sunset, and I couldn't help but turn around and take a picture of the yucky clouds to the south at the end of last week.

Then today on my way to the store, Joe pointed out to me that there was a fire up near alpine. So as I drove north I stopped to take some pictures of the smoke cloud.

At first I thought that American Fork canyon was where the fire was, which had me concerned. The church owns property there and that is where the Young Women go for girls camp. There are also many other activities held there. As I got closer to the fire I could tell that the fire was actually on the mountains north of the canyon.

The smoke cloud from all the burning trees was incredible.

The fires have gotten to the point that on Sunday they read a letter in church, part of which stated:

"As requested by Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, the Church is pleased to come together in prayer with other Utahns during this difficult time. We are mindful of those in Utah and neighboring states who have been impacted by wildfires. We encourage individuals, families and congregations to pray for the safety of firefighters, protection of lives and homes and favorable weather conditions to help control the many wildfires currently burning."

 It has been sad to see all the destruction from the fires in Colorado as well as those closer to home. We don't watch much TV at our house, which includes the news. So a few nights ago Joe showed me pictures of the fires in Colorado and all the homes that were burning. It was so sad to see people's homes reduced to ashes and imagine how difficult it would be to start over.


Luckily the fire in Alpine is not really that close to our house, but it is still a bit scary. So as a family we have been remembering to pray for the firefighters and that the fires might be contained.