Overview
- The Cottonwood Fire in Beaver County has grown to roughly 92,000 acres and remains 0% contained, making it the largest active wildfire in the U.S.
- Utah declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned most fireworks through early July to reduce new human-caused ignitions and free resources for firefighting.
- The National Weather Service issued a rare 'particularly dangerous situation' red flag and an 'extremely critical' fire-weather alert for the Great Basin and Four Corners, warning of single-digit humidity and gusts up to 50–55 mph.
- The Snyder complex that crossed the Utah–Colorado border surged Saturday and has been linked to the deaths of three firefighters and injuries to two others, prompting Colorado emergency declarations and local evacuations.
- Fire crews are working cautiously because steep terrain, low humidity, high winds and grounded aircraft have limited tactics; officials say Utah’s record-low snowpack and a warm winter helped dry fuels and nearly 3 million acres have burned nationally so far this year.