So far in 2026, Utah wildfires have burned more acres than the previous five years combined — and it’s still early July.
Driven by the explosive growth of the Cottonwood and Babylon fires — two of the nation’s largest — flames have consumed 357,173 acres and counting as of July 6. That surpasses Utah’s cumulative sum from 2021 through 2025, which was 355,944 acres according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center.
The number of structures burned this year is also way higher than in recent history, said Kelly Wickens, a fire prevention specialist with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
The runaway numbers are not a surprise given the historically dry, warm year Utah has experienced, she said, but it’s still startling to witness.
“We’re seeing fire growth up to 30,000 acres in a day, which we haven't seen in a very long time, if ever,” Wickens said.
Wildfire activity here had been relatively mild for the past several years, including Utah’s quietest fire year in recent decades. The state’s burned acreage from the previous five years also trailed well behind that of its neighbors.
Those conditions left Utah with an abundance of dry vegetation, which can quickly become fuel. So, the Beehive State seemed due for a bad year.
“The drought, the vegetation fuel moistures and the winds we've experienced have all created that perfect storm,” Wickens said.
Having so many large fires at once stresses firefighters and the national firefighting system, she said. The U.S. is currently at preparedness level 4, which means crews are heavily committed across the country.
“It's put a strain on our ability to respond to the newer fires, because we have so many resources at the larger fires,” Wickens said. Sometimes, crews fighting a large fire can also help with new starts nearby — something she said happened with the Iron and Cherry fires in Juab County — but that’s not always possible.
Crews from faraway states are in Utah to help, she said, but there are only so many airplanes, helicopters and hotshot crews to go around.
“So if we get too many of these large fires across our nation, it really starts to drain our resources,” Wickens said.
The West’s landscapes need some amount of fire to maintain their health, said Emily Fairfax, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota who studies wildfire, hydrology and ecosystems. But historic fire regimes have typically featured some pyrodiversity, meaning there are pockets of unburned or lightly burned land mixed with spots that saw more devastation.
The changing climate is now supercharging fires to be more consistently intense.
“When we have just this catastrophic drying leading up to our fire events, instead we see very large swaths of moderate and severe burning,” Fairfax said. “We see large-scale destruction of habitat in a way that these ecosystems are not built to handle.”
Combined with decades of fire suppression, that can create disastrous results.
Still, Fairfax said healing the landscape could make Utah more resilient.
Some of that could mean undoing damage humans have done. Draining wetlands or preventing rivers from reaching flood plains can remove the land’s natural water buffer that guards against dry years, she said.
So, restoring the health of forests, groundwater systems and river corridors could help, as well as removing harmful invasive plants and aiding the return of native species, such as cottonwoods and beavers.
“Climate change is absolutely a challenge, and it is not making it any easier to work with fire,” Fairfax said, “but there are also things that we have a little bit more immediate control of that can help reduce the risk.”
For now, Utah is left to deal with its current fire season, which is likely far from over.
The latest national outlook expects significant fire potential to continue statewide through July and across northern and central Utah through August. If the state doesn’t get much monsoon rain soon — or worse, gets dry lightning without rain — that could extend its pain, Wickens said.
Given how dangerous the conditions already are, she said people’s choices matter more than ever. Put out campfires completely. Don’t park on dry grass. Keep trailer chains from dragging on the road.
“Prevention is really Utah's first response to fire this year,” she said.
