Smoke Outlook – Bear Fire and Bennion Creek Fire – 6.19.2021

Special Statement
Red Flag Warning in effect until 9PM Sunday due to low
relative humidity, gusty winds and dry thunderstorms.

Fire
The Bear fire had no growth yesterday and remains at 12170
acres with 59% containment and the Bennion Creek fire had
no growth and is at 8329 acres with 41% contained. Crews are
making good progress on holding control lines and increasing
containment. Persistent red flag conditions and instability over
the fire area due to another system arriving today will provide
the possibility for rapid fire spread and fire growth.

Smoke
Smoke production from both fires will be minimal today due to
interior smoldering. There is a chance of more smoke this
afternoon as a new system arrives today creating increased
winds with dry thunderstorms which could increase fire
activity. If the fire doesn’t become more active we will see less
smoke with good air quality into the weekend. In general,
expect good air quality today in all areas except Spanish Fork
which could see air quality in the moderate ranges.

Today’s Message
When you see smoke it is usually the large particles like PM10
that you are seeing. While this is not good to breathe in, it is
usually filtered by our human body microscopic hairs called
cilia that create mucus. It is the small particles of PM2.5 and
smaller that our body doesn’t filter and when the cilia are
overworked and goes directly into our bloodstream. The PM2.5
is what we monitor for during a wildfire smoke event.