MARYSVALE, Utah (AP) — The largest fire in the United States is marching through deep canyons and over steep mountainsides, blackening an already parched landscape in Utah as residents of sparsely populated areas wait for word in case they have to evacuate.
The Cottonwood Fire already has severely damaged the Eagle Point ski resort in Beaver County and forced campground closures in Fishlake National Forest. Other public lands in the area have been closed as a precaution.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, in a social media post early Saturday, asked for prayers for firefighters and “the rains we desperately need.”
“More property destroyed. It’s as bleak as it’s ever been ... and yet there were several miraculous stops and saves,” Cox said, referring to the work of the hundreds of firefighters assigned to the blaze.
They are among the crews that have been pouring into Utah as more wildfires in the arid state gain steam thanks to consecutive days of what forecasters call critical fire weather, or dangerously low humidity levels, warm temperatures and gusty winds.
Utah is coming off a record-low snowpack and the warmest winter on record, which helped to elevate the fire danger. Much of the West is grappling with similar conditions, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, which reported that the lack of snow over the winter resulted in some unusual fire activity early in the season.
Nationally, nearly 3 million acres have burned since the start of the year, pushing the U.S. ahead of the 10-year average.
Crews battling Utah fires brace for more wind
Air rankers and helicopters took to the skies again Saturday, hoping to put a dent in the flames before afternoon winds kicked up again. On Friday, they were grounded due to weather conditions that prompted weather forecasters to issue a rare warning that highlighted a “particularly dangerous situation.”
“Weather conditions are slightly better for fire behavior today, but extreme fire behavior may occur in the afternoon as temperatures and wind speeds increase,” the U.S. Forest Service said Saturday in a statement on Facebook.
The fire ballooned to more than 144 square miles (373 square kilometers) on Saturday.
The blaze prompted Cox to declare an emergency, and the state on Friday restricted fireworks, saying Utah is experiencing one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent history and that the recent blazes are stretching the state’s wildland firefighting capabilities.
“These fires are starting closer to homes and communities,” said State Forester Jamie Barnes. “One human-caused fire is one too many."
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but state officials say the majority of those sparked so far this year have been human-caused. Forecasters also have noted that lightning strikes around the West have resulted in fires.
Elsewhere in Utah, evacuations were ordered Friday for several small communities southwest of Salt Lake City, including in Eureka, with a population under 1,000, and the Vernon Reservoir area, officials said. Highways running through the area have been closed.
Two wildfires in that area — the Iron and Cherry fires — cover a combined 111 square miles (287 square kilometers), fire officials said.
Visitors are undeterred by wildfires
The towering column of smoke from the Cottonwood Fire was visible Friday from miles away, even from Bryce Canyon National Park to the south and Colorado to the east. It was more hazy Saturday as the smoke drifted to the northeast, leaving air quality in places like Bryce and other popular vacation spots to the south unaffected.
Bob Miller was staying at an RV park in Marysvale and was prepared to evacuate if needed. He said the evenings especially have been smoky, but he and his family have still be able to enjoy the area, where they’ve vacationed for almost two decades.
“It’s still gorgeous,” said Miller, who lives in Yucaipa, California.
“Fires happen around here. When you come every year you kind of get used to that,” Miller said.
“After you’ve been through burned areas a few times, you look at it and you understand what nature can do,” he added.
Red flag warnings cover the West
Conditions including low humidity and strong winds triggered red flag warnings across a wide swath stretching from California to southern Arizona and New Mexico. Some of the forecasts for the weekend predicted winds of 25 to 35 miles an hour (40 kph to 56 kph), with the worst conditions expected from northern Arizona into central and southern Utah.
At Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, visitors were met with a power outage Saturday. The utility that serves the area initiated a safety outage in hopes of lessening the risk of wildfire in that area.
Visitors will be able to purchase park passes at entrance stations as long as backup power systems remain operational, but park officials said people should come prepared. That means downloading maps and other important information before arriving and ensuring that phones and other electronic devices are fully charged.
Power shut-offs have become more common in the West as wildfire risk has expanded. It's usually a last resort after utility forecasters weigh factors like sustained wind and gust speeds, available fuels and topography.
With extreme fire conditions persisting in Utah, Rocky Mountain Power said power lines serving Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Millard, San Juan and Washington counties were shut off Saturday.
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Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. AP writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
