August brings ‘catastrophic’ wildfire conditions to Utah 

By the end of July, crews had all but contained Utah’s biggest wildfires smoldering in southern Utah. But they were far from getting a chance to celebrate. 

August started a new chapter in an intense, tinder-dry summer, with the Widemouth 2 Fire east of Fillmore exploding in size since Saturday, threatening hundreds of homes, forcing evacuations and stretching firefighting resources thinner. 

Gov. Spencer Cox warned of “catastrophic conditions” Sunday, noting realities on the ground raised the Great Basin region’s preparedness level to four out of five, indicating greater fire activity is putting limited resources in high demand. The Great Basin region covers most of Utah, Nevada and Idaho, along with a small portion of Wyoming. 

In all, more than 456,000 acres — more than 700 square miles — have burned across Utah this year, nearly tripling last year’s total. 

By Monday, the Widemouth 2 Fire burned more than 68,000 acres, with crews attacking the fire directly near the small community of Kanosh and trying to prevent flames from moving further southeast toward communities and homes. 

“Lines are holding thus far,” a coalition of state and federal agencies working on the fire said in a memo to the public. Despite the fire’s erratic behavior, crews kept any buildings from being destroyed and there were no major injuries, the agencies said Monday. 

The Widemouth 2 Fire’s rapid spread forced evacuations for southeast portions of Fillmore, a city of about 2,800, along with smaller towns of Kanosh and Meadow. It also prompted the Utah Department of Corrections to evacuate 40 Utahns serving out their prison sentences in the Millard County Jail on Sunday night, a department spokesman said Monday in a prepared statement. 

Those relocated will stay at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City “until conditions are safe,” the statement said. 

A month earlier, as the Babylon Fire raged in southeastern Utah, the department temporarily relocated others who were being held at the San Juan County Jail.

The Widemouth 2 Fire started with a lightning strike last week and tripled in size overnight on Saturday, in a display of how more fires are continuing to rage even after the sun sets due to hotter, drier conditions brought on by climate change. In colder weather, flames often move slower or die down when it’s dark out. 

The governor thanked crews working around the clock in his social media post over the weekend, saying “the best way we can support them is by preventing new fires. Please avoid anything that could create a spark, follow all fire restrictions, and stay alert.”

This year’s conditions, cuts to the U.S. Forest Service, and a policy from the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service to stomp out all fires fast have advocates worried about the safety of crews across the country. Drawing attention to the risks are the deaths of four members of a specialized “helitack” crew on the Utah-Colorado border in June. 

Emily Barker, 38; Nick Hutcherson, 27; Nathan Matthews, 43; and Sydney Watson, 27, were caught in a burnover incident. A surviving member of their team was hospitalized with burn injuries.  

On Tuesday at the Widemouth 2 Fire, a new incident management team equipped to handle more complex fires is expected to take command, said Karl Hunt, spokesperson for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands. 

“We’re anticipating that we’ll be able to bring in a lot more resources to help battle the fire,” Hunt said. 

Utah has applied for grants with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help cover the cost of fighting the fire, along with others that erupted in the state this summer, including the Cottonwood Fire near Beaver and the Iron Fire near Eureka. The agency generally covers 75% of the cost, Hunt said.  

The fire near Fillmore was one of many fires around the state. The Black Canyon Fire burned on the border of Sanpete and Emery counties, triggering evacuations for a subdivision east of Ephraim. 

In northern Utah, crews were also battling brush fires that broke out along I-80 near Parley’s Canyon and the border of Salt Lake City and Millcreek Monday.