Utah imposes fireworks ban as record fires, heat fuel wildfires

Utah imposed temporary statewide fireworks restrictions through July 5 as a state of emergency spread across the state and two major wildfires burned. Gov. Spencer J. Cox said the flames were unfolding under extraordinary wildfire conditions, with hundreds of fires, exhausted crews and some of the most dangerous fire behavior in Utah history.

The National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City issued a rare red flag warning and a “particularly dangerous situation” warning, the first elevated warning of that kind ever issued there, as high winds, scorching temperatures and very low humidity combined to drive fire growth across the state and the broader western U.S.

The Cottonwood Fire in southern Utah, near Beaver, had burned nearly 111 square miles and remained zero percent contained. It was burning in a sparsely populated part of the state and was one of the largest active fires in the country. In Juab County, the Iron Fire had blackened 34 square miles after being first detected Saturday, and it forced evacuations in Eureka, a town of about 1,000 people.

Fire crews protected Eureka with a backburn operation, and no primary structures were lost there. Wind gusts of about 45 mph, later reaching 50 mph, grounded aircraft and pushed crews off the line just as they were trying to hold the fire’s edge. Severe-to-extreme drought, record-low snowpack and dry fuels compounded the fight.

Utah’s snowpack peaked three weeks early and was the lowest on record, with the March 9 peak measured at 8.4 inches. The Utah Division of Water Resources said statewide runoff was expected to reach only about 50% of normal. Cox said, “When people who've dedicated their lives to protecting Utah tell us this year is different, we desperately need to listen.”