Tag: Utah fire

Utah wildfires: Three firefighters killed in Colorado as wildfires rage across the Southwest

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Five firefighters standing on a rocky ridge looking at a large forest wildfire at night

Three firefighters have died battling a fast-moving blaze along the Colorado-Utah border, officials said, as dozens of infernos rage across the Southwest, with Utah imposing sweeping restrictions on Fourth of July fireworks ahead of the nation’s 250th Independence Day. The National Weather Service has issued the highest possible fire weather risk, warning that dry air and windy gusts pose an “extremely critical” risk of fire conditions over the Four Corners region this weekend. The three firefighters died while battling the fast-growing Snyder Mesa Fire, which has burned more than 28,000 acres along the Utah-Colorado border, the US Wildland Fire Service said late Saturday.

Two others were injured and transported to hospital, the service said. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency Saturday in Mesa County in reaction to the blaze, which he said had crossed into Colorado from Utah, and authorized the state’s National Guard to support response efforts. Utah’s governor announced last week firework restrictions for Fourth of July, saying a historic drought, hundreds of wildfires and unprecedented fire behavior have stretched Utah’s firefighting resources to the brink. “Utahns love celebrating the Fourth of July with family, friends and fireworks. I do too. But this year is different,” Cox said. “We are seeing fire behavior that even our most experienced firefighters say they’ve never witnessed before.”

The fire threat is so severe that the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City issued its first-ever “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning, which covers central and southern Utah and includes the Cottonwood Fire, the state’s largest active blaze. “This is a temporary measure for an extraordinary year,” Cox said of the fireworks ban. “It protects lives and homes while allowing local leaders, working alongside their fire officials, to identify areas where fireworks can be used safely.” In some municipalities, local leaders working alongside fire officials will designate approved areas where fireworks can still be used under safer conditions. The Cottonwood Fire, burning through the Fishlake National Forest east of Beaver, Utah, has grown to more than 92,000 acres as of Saturday morning, an area bigger than Salt Lake City, in just a few days and remains 0% contained as of Saturday night.

Evacuations are in place for the fire, which state and local officials believe is likely Utah’s most destructive and costly wildfire on record. Its cause is still under investigation. A total of 1,066 personnel are battling the Cottonwood Fire, where crews have been warned to stay vigilant of the dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior. “We always have safety first out there, and as soon as we see things or we start getting feelings, we’ve told the guys they don’t like it, disengage, get to a safe place,” Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson for the fire’s emergency management team, told CNN affiliate KSL. State officials also warned that anyone whose illegal actions ignite a wildfire could face steep criminal charges and substantial civil liability for the damage caused. Beloved cabins and lifelong memories reduced to ashes As officials continue assessing the ongoing damage, the full toll of the Cottonwood Fire remains unknown.

But across the Beaver Mountain community, residents are already grieving the loss of cherished cabins and family retreats that held generations of memories. For Evan Stapley, Beaver Mountain was more than a weekend getaway — it was woven into his family’s history. “To me, nothing’s more beautiful than Beaver Mountain in the fall,” Stapley told CNN affiliate KSL. “The aspen yellow, and you get the reds in there and all the greens. There is nothing more beautiful in the world.” Now, the cabin where those memories were made has been reduced to ash. Stapley said he learned it had burned in the Cottonwood Fire after a friend sent him video of the spot where it once stood. “I saw that and went, ‘That’s just unbelievable,’” he told KSL. “The fire must have moved so fast and twirled around in there and just took it … I cried,” he added.

“I’ve got too many memories, too many memories of that place.” The fire also dealt a devastating blow to Eagle Point Ski Resort, where several buildings were damaged or destroyed. In a Facebook post, owner Shane Gadbaw said the resort will remain closed as it recovers from what he called a catastrophe. “We are thankful that to our knowledge, there have been no human casualties from the fire,” Gadbaw said in a Facebook post. Residents gathered Friday in Piute County as the Cottonwood Fire pushed closer, with flames visible in the distance and smoke settling across the valley, to hear updates and discuss emergency response plans, CNN affiliate KSTU reported. During the meeting, Nick Schenk of Great Basin Team 5, one of the first responders who fought the blaze Monday, delivered an emotional account of the battle against the fire. “We did everything we absolutely could.

We called for every bit of help we could find. And about all we could do was get people out of the way of it,” Schenk told KSTU. Photos shared by the resort Thursday showed a handful of lodges still standing amid a landscape of blackened trees. Farther north, the Iron Fire near Eureka, Utah, has burned more than 40,000 acres after forcing evacuations earlier this week. Nearby, the Cherry Fire, sparked by lightning Friday morning, has already grown to more than 30,000 acres. Another blaze, the Wild Goose Fire, ignited near Holden on Friday, adding to a growing list of active wildfires across Utah. State fire officials estimated by Saturday evening it had burned over 10,000 acres as crews worked to assess and contain its spread.

Source: Utah wildfires: Three firefighters killed in Colorado as wildfires rage across the Southwest | CNN

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
Romans 7:7

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Utah declares emergency, limits fireworks ahead of July Fourth as crews battle largest U.S. wildfire

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Utah restricted fireworks and declared a state of emergency Friday ahead of July Fourth celebrations as the United States’ largest wildfire expanded its reach across more tinder-dry forest, as crews rush to fight new blazes in the arid state. The National Weather Service issued a rare “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning as dry, windy conditions provided fuel for more fires across the western U.S. The Cottonwood Fire in a sparsely populated area of southern Utah started Monday. It ballooned to more than 112 square miles by Friday, burning unchecked as strong winds grounded air support, forestry officials said.

One of six large wildfires burning in Utah, it severely damaged the Eagle Point ski resort in Beaver County, forcing mandatory evacuations.  As of Friday evening, Utah had 10 active wildfires burning across more than 144,700 acres, according to the state’s wildfire dashboard. The Cottonwood Fire had burned nearly 72,000 acres and is at 0% containment.  “We have the 35 miles-per-hour sustained winds that they predicted, and we definitely have the 45 miles-per-hour gusts,” said Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson assigned to the fire. “So there has been a great increase in the fire activity. We are seeing extreme fire behavior out there with some crown runs and definitely some spotting.”

The smoke has been pushing to the east and northeast, meaning air quality at popular vacation spots like Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks — located far south of the flames — hasn’t been significantly affected beyond some haze in the Bryce area. Still, visitors to Bryce have posted videos on social media showing the giant plume in the distance. The smoke could be seen for hundreds of miles, all the way to Colorado, as authorities put roughly 1,300 residents in the towns of Marysvale, Junction and Circleville on notice that they should be prepared to leave if conditions worsen and the fire pushes farther.  State forester Jamie Barnes had said Thursday that it’s like nothing seen in recent memory. She said fires are spreading farther and faster “under conditions that defy historical expectations.”

Bruce Brown, 76, accompanied the sheriff on Thursday to find that his cabin and others in the area were gone. He found a burned-out moonscape with power poles tipped over along the canyon. Alyssa Olsen, 27, said her family’s cabin also burned. It was the last place they gathered for family photos with her grandmother before she died of cancer. Her brother was planning to get married there in two months. “That stuff you can’t just build back,” Olsen said. Gov. Spencer Cox set the temporary fireworks restrictions through July 5 as the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, saying “this year is different.” The weather service in Salt Lake City, for the first time in the office’s history, issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning for five Utah counties, including the area of the Cottonwood Fire.

The rare alert was first used to warn of tornado conditions. A red flag warning was also issued for most of the state. “Prepare now for rapid fire growth,” it said. A similar “dangerous situation” warning had been issued for the 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. A federal judge declared a mistrial Friday in the arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of sparking that fire. The jury said it couldn’t agree on a verdict. While the Cottonwood Fire’s cause was unknown, Cox’s order noted that humans have been the cause of most fires in the state so far this year. Utah has seen 376 wildfires this year, and 273 of those were caused by humans, according to Utah’s wildfire data.

wildfire spreads through poprad woodlands

The governor’s order gives Barnes power to restrict or prohibit fireworks displays in Utah’s cities and towns, instead of leaving those decisions to the communities. With extreme fire conditions persisting, Rocky Mountain Power issued a public safety power shut-off watch/warning for areas of central, southern and eastern Utah through the weekend. Crews were also battling the Iron Fire southwest of Salt Lake City. The flames on Thursday forced the temporary evacuation of Eureka, population 1,000. Red flag warnings, which mean conditions such as low humidity, warm temperatures and strong winds can create an extreme wildfire risk, were in effect Friday and stretched from Idaho to southern Arizona and New Mexico.

The warnings extended into Saturday, with forecasters predicting winds of 25 to 35 miles an hour and very low humidity levels. The worst conditions were expected from northern Arizona into central and southern Utah. Much of Utah already is experiencing severe to extreme drought, while parts of Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico are experiencing severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Tim Brown, a research professor and director of the Western Regional Climate Center, said the potential for extreme fire behavior will remain as long as it’s hot, dry and windy. “I would not be surprised to see a lot of restrictions come out as we get closer to the July Fourth weekend,” he said.

“People really need to be aware of their surroundings if they’re going to be out in the forested campground areas and grassland areas.” Even in Florida, where there have been multiple brush fires, authorities are urging people to skip the personal fireworks and instead leave the pyrotechnics to professionals putting on carefully planned shows. In Utah, federal land managers have closed public lands near the Cottonwood Fire as a precaution, and in New Mexico, forest officials closed campgrounds and trails near a wildfire burning in the Jemez Mountains. Nationally, nearly 3 million acres have burned since the start of the year, pushing the U.S. ahead of the 10-year average. The National Interagency Fire Center said firefighters are making progress on containing fires from Alaska to Florida. 

Source: Utah declares emergency, limits fireworks ahead of July Fourth as crews battle largest U.S. wildfire – CBS Colorado

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15

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