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2026 Utah wildfires

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2026 Utah wildfires
BERJAYA
Aerial view of the Sawmill Fire on June 16
Statistics
Total fires25
Total area300,000 acres (120,000 ha; 470 sq mi)
Impacts
Deaths3
Injuries2
Structures destroyed180+
Cost$50 million USD
← 2025

A series of major wildfires are currently burning throughout the U.S. state of Utah.

Background

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BERJAYA
Utah drought monitor on June 9

While the typical wildfire season in Utah varies, most fires occur in between July and October.[1] Fire conditions can heavily depend on monsoons that last from late June to September. Dry monsoons can allow fires to start and spread easier, while wet ones can cause fire relief. Additionally, hot temperatures and overall dry conditions play a large role.[2]

Summary

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The 2025–26 winter was the warmest on record for Utah and had one of the lowest recorded snowpack for the state, leaving many fuels dry enough to foster fire conditions as early as March.[3] In Southern Utah, vegetation is some of the driest as it has been the past century.[4] Forecasts predict a potentially active monsoon season,[5] however, it is likely to be late onset until late July.[3]

For June 2026, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) has predicted above-average fire potential throughout all of Utah, with the Great Basin Coordination Center predicting the highest fire activity in Northern Utah from August to September.[5]

In June, drought and multi-day red flag conditions fueled multiple fast-moving and significant wildfires, with the largest at the time being the Iron fire and Cottonwood fire. These fires and other fires around them resulted in a state and nationwide response that required numerous resources.[6][7] Three firefighters were killed and two were sent to the hospital on June 27 when the Snyder fire overran them when they were trying to take shelter.[8][9][10] That fire has since crossed into neighboring Colorado. The babylon fire exploded into megafire status a few days after these fires started grabbing resources from other states, showcasing just how dry and volatile the fuels were.[11][12]

On June 25, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced a temporary statewide fireworks restrictions amid historic wildfire conditions, as woodland firefighters fought blazes around the state. In the announcement, it was noted that human causes were suspected in 75% of the wildfires in the state thus far in 2026.[13]

List of wildfires

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The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), produced significant structural damage, or resulted in casualties.

Name County Acres Start date Containment date[a] Notes Ref.
Wild Horse Juab, Millard 7,025 May 13 May 19 Burned south of Leamington and caused power outages. [15][16]
Tower Millard 1,369 June 7 June 15 Burned south of Scipio. Closed U.S. 50. Impacted air quality throughout Utah. [17][18][19]
South Mountain Tooele 1,865 June 8 June 13 Human-caused. Burned west of Stockton and caused power outages. [20][21]
Sawmill Iron 3,790 June 16 July 1 Cause under investigation. Prompted evacuations and burned northwest of Lund. [22][23]
Iron Utah, Juab, Tooele 41,842 June 19 July 3 Human-caused. Burned just to the west of Eureka, reaching the north end of town and caused evacuations for the whole town. Merged with the Cherry fire on June 26. [24][25][26][27]
Hastings Tooele 26,422.6 June 20 June 26 Unknown cause. Burned near Hastings Pass and impacted recreation. [28][29]
Cottonwood Beaver, Piute 97,458 June 22
77%
 Unknown cause. Burning near Beaver moving east then evacuated Eagle Point. Grew past 10,000 acres in a few hours on its first day, required a unified response with over 1,000 firefighters. [30][31]
Cherry Juab, Tooele 34,252 June 26 July 7 Merged with the Iron Fire and grew rapidly after merging with multiple other fires shortly after ignition. Prompting evacuations. [32][33]
Wild Goose Millard 12,665 June 26
98%
 Closed U.S. 50 and prompting evacuations. [34][35][36]
Babylon San Juan 106,610 June 26
50%
 Closing portions of Manti-La Sal National Forest and grew aggressively to the north, 5 structures destroyed. [37][38][39]
Snyder Grand, Mesa (CO) 30,202 June 27
98%
 Killed 3 firefighters, injured 2 and has crossed into Colorado, currently prompting pre-evacuations and grew to 28,000 acres in one day, which forced firefighters to temporarily stop fighting the fire. [8][40][41]
Stookey Tooele 9,500 July 10
0%
 Human-caused. Burning in the Onaqui Mountains west of Last Chance Lakes. Prompting evacuations for recreational areas. [42][43]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Containment means that fire crews have established and secured control lines around the fire's perimeter. These lines are artificial barriers, like trenches or cleared vegetation, designed to stop the fire's spread, or natural barriers like rivers. Containment reflects progress in managing the fire but does not necessarily mean the fire is starved of fuel, under control, or put out.[14]

References

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  1. ↑ Lee, Jasen. "Longer wildfire season means more bad air days". University of Utah. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  2. ↑ Small, Adam (June 21, 2024). "Utah sees busy start to 2024 wildfire season, draws comparison to record-breaking year". KSL News Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Jag, Julie (May 21, 2026). "Utah's wildfire season will be as bad as feared — and more expensive, officials say". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on June 10, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  4. ↑ Condos, David (June 4, 2026). "This rural Utah town is ready for the bad wildfire year many suspect is coming". KUER-FM. Archived from the original on June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Williams, Carter (June 2, 2026). "Utah's closed fire season arrives as above-normal fire risk rises statewide". KSL-TV. Archived from the original on June 10, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Cottonwood Fire burns through Utah ski resort, now 'most destructive' in state history, Cox says". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Utah's unified wildfire response system brings crews from across the West as fires strain local resources". June 14, 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Three firefighters killed, two hospitalized fighting wildfires on Utah-Colorado border". June 27, 2026.
  9. ↑ W; i; l; l; e; m; M; a; r (June 28, 2026). "Three firefighters killed on Colorado-Utah border as wildfires intensify". NPR. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  10. ↑ "3 firefighters killed, 2 injured responding to Snyder wildfire on Utah-Colorado border". June 27, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Utah's largest wildfire in nearly a decade crosses 100,000 acres burned – Wildfire Today". wildfiretoday.com. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  12. ↑ Condos, David (July 7, 2026). "Utah wildfires have burned more acres this year than the past 5 years combined". KUER. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ https://governor.utah.gov/press/gov-cox-announces-temporary-statewide-fireworks-restrictions-amid-historic-wildfire-conditions/
  14. ↑ "What containment and other wildfire related terms mean". KCAL-TV. September 12, 2024. Archived from the original on February 9, 2026. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Wild Horse Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  16. ↑ Fox, Derick (May 14, 2026). "Wild Horse Fire grows to 1,200 acres in Millard County with 5% containment". KUTV. Archived from the original on June 8, 2026. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Tower Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  18. ↑ Bittan, Ryan; Indihar, Kyle (June 7, 2026). "FIRE WATCH: Tower Fire closes SR-50 from Scipio to Salina". KTVX. Retrieved June 7, 2026.
  19. ↑ Larsen, Nate (June 8, 2026). "Experts warn Utah could face another smoky summer as fire danger increases". KSTU. Archived from the original on June 10, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  20. ↑ "South Mountain Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  21. ↑ Fox, Derick; Ochoa, David (June 9, 2026). "Wind shift helps crews battle South Mountain Fire in Tooele County". KMYU. KUTV. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Sawmill Fire Map". Watch Duty. Archived from the original on June 17, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  23. ↑ Booker, Curtis (June 16, 2026). "Evacuations in effect after new wildfire sparks in Iron County". KSL-TV. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Iron Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
  25. ↑ Jennings, Aubree (June 20, 2026). "Human-caused wildfire burns 4,700 acres, threatens structures near Eureka". KUTV. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Town of Eureka evacuated as Iron Fire grows to 13,000 acres". June 20, 2026.
  27. ↑ KUTV, Jonathan May (June 21, 2026). "Evacuations underway for ranches north of Eureka as fire remains 2 miles from town". KUTV. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Hastings Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  29. ↑ Indihar, Kyle (June 20, 2026). "FIRE WATCH: Hastings Fire in Tooele County explodes to nearly 75x in size". KTVX. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  30. ↑ "Cottonwood Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  31. ↑ KUTV, Derick Fox (June 23, 2026). "Cottonwood Fire expands to over 27,000 acres, determined as human-caused". KATU. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  32. ↑ Moody, Sean (June 26, 2026). "Cherry, Iron wildfires now over 71,000 acres combined; evacuations remain in place". FOX 13 News Utah (KSTU). Retrieved June 27, 2026.
  33. ↑ KUTV, Megan Brugger (June 27, 2026). "Massive flames engulf SR-36 near Tooele/Juab County line". KUTV. Retrieved June 27, 2026.
  34. ↑ KUTV, Aubree B. Jennings (June 27, 2026). "Wild Goose Fire forces evacuations near Scipio in Millard County". KUTV. Retrieved June 27, 2026.
  35. ↑ Staff, Gephardt Daily (June 27, 2026). "Breaking: Wild Goose Fire closes U.S. Highway 50; evacuations ordered south of Scipio | Gephardt Daily". Retrieved June 27, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Wild Goose Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 27, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Babylon Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  38. ↑ Tavss, Jeff (June 28, 2026). "National forest, roads closed as Babylon Fire grows in San Juan County". KSTU. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  39. ↑ KUTV, Aubree B. Jennings (July 4, 2026). "Uncontained Babylon Fire burns over 87,500 acres in southeastern Utah". KUTV. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  40. ↑ "Governor declares disaster emergency for fast-growing western Colorado wildfire". June 27, 2026.
  41. ↑ "Snyder Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Stookey Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  43. ↑ Bittan, Ryan (July 13, 2026). "Stookey Fire grows to 6,600 acres overnight, spreading to new terrain". KTVX. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
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