Cottonwood

Fire Start, Size and Growth

Start Date/Time/Location: The Cottonwood Fire ignited around 12:09 p.m. on Monday, June 22, 2026, near the Cottonwood Campground in the Fishlake National Forest, approximately 5 miles east of Beaver, Utah.
Size and Containment: As of July 25, 2026, the fire has burned approximately 97,464 acres and is currently 90% contained.
Fuels, Growth and Rate of Spread: Initially driven by critically dry vegetation—including ponderosa pine, oak, sagebrush, and juniper—the fire exhibited extreme, wind-driven behavior during its first few weeks. It rapidly grew to over 60,000 acres within days, generating massive pyrocumulonimbus smoke plumes. Over the last 72 hours, active fire spread has drastically decreased thanks to heavy monsoonal rains over the fire footprint.
Containment Efforts: A Central Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team assumed command of the incident on July 20. With the fire largely subdued by recent weather, the roughly 300 remaining firefighting personnel, heavy equipment operators, and resource advisors have shifted their primary focus. Current operations are heavily dedicated to critical suppression repair, infrastructure assessments, and assisting Beaver County with severe flood mitigation resulting from the recent storms.

Emergency Information

Evacuations and Sheltering:
Mandatory Evacuation Orders: Mandatory Level 3 "Go" evacuation orders remain in effect for HiLo Estates, Merchant Valley, Eagle Point Resort, and Arrowhead Summer Homes.
Evacuation Warnings: "Ready" alerts have impacted surrounding communities, including Marysvale, Junction, and Circleville.
Curfew: Access to the burn area and evacuated zones is strictly restricted to authorized personnel. Residents are urged to avoid all routes leading to the fire perimeter due to severe safety hazards.
Evacuation Shelters and Information: Evacuees from the affected areas were instructed to travel east toward the town of Junction. Evacuation orders have impacted more than 450 residents and visitors.

Road and Infrastructure Closures:

• State Route 153 (Beaver Canyon) is closed in both directions between mileposts 2 and 25. Portions of the road have sustained severe damage from recent flash flooding.
• An official Closure Order is in place for the Fishlake National Forest, restricting all recreational access to the area.
• Portions of the local culinary and agricultural water systems serving Beaver City, Marysvale, Junction, and Circleville have been disrupted or damaged due to post-fire flooding.

For more information, visit:

• Utah Fire Info Official Website
• Fishlake National Forest - U.S. Forest Service
• Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands

Current Impact

Impacts:
Injuries and Fatalities: There have been no reported injuries or fatalities associated with the Cottonwood Fire.
Structures Impacted: The fire has destroyed at least 150 structures. The Eagle Point Ski Resort suffered extensive damage, losing over 100 condos and 30 cabins, alongside damage to four of its five chairlifts.
School and Business Closures: Recreational businesses, summer camps, and campgrounds in the Fishlake National Forest remain closed.
Notable Impacts: Over the past 72 hours, the crisis has evolved from a wildfire emergency to a severe flooding disaster. Heavy monsoon downpours over the burn scar triggered massive debris flows and flash flooding. Floodwaters have impacted homes, washed out local culinary water systems, and isolated communities. In response to the devastation, Utah Governor Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency on July 22 for Beaver, Piute, and Sevier counties to deploy additional resources for flood response and recovery.

Safety Concerns:
Power Outages: Infrastructure damage from both the fire and subsequent flooding may cause localized power disruptions.
Water Safety: Due to floodwaters breaching and disrupting culinary water systems, residents in Beaver City, Marysvale, Junction, and Circleville face significant water safety concerns. Residents must follow local advisories regarding drinking water consumption.
Burn Bans: Stage 2 Fire Restrictions remain in effect for the Fishlake National Forest and surrounding areas.
Air Quality: While recent rains have helped clear localized smoke, lingering emissions from the Cottonwood Fire continue to impact air quality in parts of central and southern Utah.

Ongoing Outlook

Containment Projections: The fire stands at 90% containment. While monsoonal moisture has temporarily halted fire progression, engineering teams and fire crews are now racing to repair hand and dozer lines, clear debris from drainage structures, and assess damaged forest roads and bridges to mitigate future erosion.
Weather and Wind Warnings: Showers and thunderstorms remain in the forecast across the fire area. The primary weather concern has shifted entirely from wind-driven fire spread to the extremely high risk of life-threatening flash flooding and debris flows originating from the barren, 97,000-acre burn scar.

Cause and the Role of Weather and Climate

Cause: The cause of the Cottonwood Fire is currently under investigation, though officials have determined it is not naturally caused and is of human origin.
Weather and Climate: The fire was initially fueled by extreme fire weather conditions following a winter of below-average snowpack and an unusually warm, dry start to the summer. These climate factors left the landscape highly susceptible to rapid fire spread. Currently, the arrival of the monsoon season has brought heavy rains, which, while aiding containment, have interacted with the destabilized soils of the burn scar to cause catastrophic flash flooding—a compounding hazard increasingly common in extreme, climate-driven wildfire seasons.

For more information, visit:

• Utah Fire Info Official Website
• Fishlake National Forest - U.S. Forest Service
• Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands