A massive wildfire in central Utah has nearly doubled in size overnight, forcing hundreds of firefighters to battle conditions that veteran crews say defy what they have seen before. The Cottonwood fire, which ignited Monday in Fishlake National Forest, grew from roughly 70,000 acres to more than 92,000 acres by Saturday morning, consuming an additional 20,000 acres as low humidity and strong winds pushed the flames across the landscape.
The blaze remains completely uncontained and stands as the largest active wildfire in the entire United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. No injuries or deaths have been reported, though the fire has caused property damage at a ski resort in Beaver County and forced the closure of the national forest.
Conditions on Saturday offered only marginal relief. While authorities predicted slightly better weather earlier in the day, they warned that afternoon hours could bring renewed extreme fire behavior as temperatures and wind speeds climbed again. Smoke from the Cottonwood fire has degraded air quality across the region, with residents northeast of the blaze, including those in the town of Marysvale, facing unhealthful air.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City issued a rare red flag warning Thursday, signaling dangerously rapid fire spread and life-threatening conditions. In response, Governor Spencer Cox implemented statewide restrictions on firework use ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
The Cottonwood fire is one of several major blazes consuming Utah this season. Two fires near Eureka, located about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City, have burned roughly 70,000 acres combined and prompted evacuations in the area.
Jamie Barnes, director of the Utah division of forestry, fire and state lands, characterized the scope of the crisis in stark terms. "This is unlike anything we've seen in recent memory," Barnes said Thursday. "We're seeing fires spread farther and faster under conditions that defy historical expectations. Some of the fires we've responded to this year are behaving in ways veteran firefighters simply haven't seen before."
Statewide, Utah has experienced 380 fires so far this year, with humans responsible for 273 of them. The cause of the Cottonwood fire remains under investigation.
Author James Rodriguez: "The scale and speed of these fires are pushing firefighting resources to the breaking point, and nature isn't cooperating."
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