OGDEN -- Fire restrictions have been set in Ogden and neighboring cities after the wet spring encouraged brush to grow bigger than normal and now the summer heat is drying it all out.
"We had a wet spring, which brought more growth than typical -- more fuel," Ogden Fire Marshal Mathew Schwenk said Friday.
"It's dangerous. The cheat grass is drying out rapidly."
The restrictions are in effect in the North Ogden, Ogden and South Ogden areas east of Harrison Boulevard and north of 3300 North, Schwenk said.
The restriction bans all open fires and all fireworks in the designated area. The only open fires allowed are those that have been approved by the appropriate fire marshal.
Schwenk said the aerial fireworks legalized this year in the state did not play a role in the decision to impose the fire restrictions and that restrictions such as these have been implemented before.
"It doesn't make a difference in our minds," he said.
Schwenk also reminded people, especially those shooting aerial fireworks, which tend to be louder, that the noise curfew in Ogden is 11 p.m. to 11 a.m.
Schwenk said there was a small fire Thursday in the restricted area.
Another brush fire near Weber State University over the Fourth of July weekend covered about 2 acres and took about an hour to extinguish.
No one has been injured in any brush fires.
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