Uncontained Utah wildfire tops 70,000 acres amid rare red flag warning

Firefighters battling the Cottonwood Fire in southern Utah pulled crews off the line Friday as wind gusts climbed to about 45 mph, humidity fell into the single digits and the blaze remained 0% contained. By June 25, it had grown past 70,000 acres and was the largest active wildfire in the United States, already larger than Salt Lake City.

The National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City issued a rare particularly dangerous situation red flag warning for parts of Utah, the first such warning in the office’s history. Fuel moisture was running between 2 and 8 percent, leaving grass, brush and timber primed to burn as hot, dry air and strong winds pushed the fire’s runs across Fishlake National Forest.

The Cottonwood Fire started Monday, June 22, near Cottonwood Campground on the Beaver Ranger District, east of Beaver. It has destroyed parts of Eagle Point Resort and triggered mandatory evacuations in Beaver County, including the Eagle Point and Merchant Valley areas. SR-153 was closed in both directions between mileposts 2 and 25 as crews tried to keep the fire from moving farther into the resort and cabin country around the mountain.

Utah had already logged more than 230 fires by June 11, and two had grown beyond 1,000 acres. By late June, nearly 150,000 acres had burned statewide and response costs had reached about $20 million.

Gov. Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency on June 25 and temporarily restricted fireworks statewide through July 5, giving local leaders authority to designate safe areas for fireworks in consultation with fire officials. Stage 2 fire restrictions took effect on Fishlake National Forest on June 26, tightening limits as crews faced another round of hot, dry, windy weather.