By SARA UTLE
The fire at Mona, Juab County, was finally contained Monday night, but the trouble has only begun for Utah.
In less than two months, the state has seen more than 230 wildland fires that have stretched Utah's fire-fighting resources, said Art DuFault, a Utah state forester.
DuFault said several of Utah's counties are short on fire-fighting funds.
'It's particularly disturbing that we are barely a month into this year's fire season and Utah County's fire-fighting budget is exhausted,' he said.
While the state will pay for half the cost of fighting additional fires in Utah County, DuFault said the county will have to come up with the rest.
The ability of the state to help the counties fight fires is not what it used to be, DuFault said.
'We have reduced capability this year because of the downsizing that's gone on at the federal level,' he said.
The season's early fires have the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands working with other agencies in anticipation of a heavy fire season.
DuFault said extra crews have been trained and aircraft are standing by so fires can be responded to quickly.
'We have been lucky so far this year because we have caught most fires while they are still small. Our biggest fire was the one out of Mona, and our problem there was the high wind,' DuFault said.
The Mona fire burned for more than a week and damaged almost 3,500 acres of land before it was finally contained late Monday, said Kathy Jo Pollock, fire information officer for Salt Lake City.