The situation with large-scale forest fires in the US state of Utah remains critical.
As of 5:30 a.m. Bulgarian time, the fire element continues to grow at an extreme rate, fueled by record low humidity, an unusually dry winter and constant winds with speeds above 56 km/h with gusts up to 72 km/h.
So far, the state has registered over 388 active fires, which have already burned more than 270,000 acres – an area exceeding four times the scale of the damage from the same time last year.
Tragedy on the front line and state of emergency
The heaviest blow to date was recorded on the Utah-Colorado border in the area of the “Snyder“ fire. In an incident with a sudden encirclement by tongues of fire (burnover) three firefighters died, and two others were hospitalized. The tragedy prompted Governor Spencer Cox to declare statewide state of emergency and impose unprecedented bans on the use of fireworks on the eve of Independence Day (July 4), describing the situation as a “matter of life and death”. In parallel, outdoor shooting sports were suspended in 16 counties due to the risk of sparks.
The main active outbreaks:
The “Cottonwood“ (Cottonwood Fire): The largest active fire in the United States at the moment, located near the city of Beaver. It has already consumed about 94,000 acres and is barely 5% contained. The fire destroyed more than 100 structures, including parts of the Eagle Point ski resort. A mandatory Level 3 evacuation ("GO NOW") has been declared for holiday villages in the area. The fire “Babylon“ (Babylon Fire): Located in San Juan County, it has exploded to over 70,700 acres at 0% containment. The fire forced the immediate closure and complete evacuation of the southern sector („Needles“) of the popular „Canyonlands“ National Park until at least the end of July. Fire “Iron“ and “Cherry“ (Iron & Cherry Fires): These two neighboring fires burned 42,000 and 34,000 acres, respectively. They forced emergency and mandatory evacuations of residents from the city of Eureka, as well as the towns of Mammoth, Silver City, and Tintic Junction.Over 2,000 firefighters, supported by heavy equipment and aircraft, are battling the flames. However, their work is being greatly hampered as strong winds in some places force teams to withdraw for safety reasons and land helicopters. Thick smoke and poor air quality are already being felt in dozens of cities in Utah, as well as in the neighboring state of Colorado.
Sources: BTA, CNN