BEAVER COUNTY, Utah, June 29, 2026 (Gephardt Daily) — Firefighters battling the Cottonwood Fire made significant progress Sunday as cooler temperatures, higher humidity and lighter winds allowed crews to strengthen containment efforts around the blaze, which has now burned more than 93,000 acres in southern Utah.
The wildfire, discovered June 22 in the Fishlake National Forest, has been described by Gov. Spencer J. Cox as potentially the most destructive wildfire in Utah history because of the number of cabins and other structures destroyed.
“The fire conditions gave our crews a lot of chances in many areas we didn’t have chances before,” Operations Section Chief Nick Schenck said during Sunday’s evening operational briefing.
Schenck said firefighters made progress on both the east and west flanks of the fire.
On the west side, crews continued constructing direct containment lines while working closely with firefighting aircraft. Fire managers also developed plans to use helicopters to insert firefighters into remote terrain on the northern portion of the fire, improving access to areas that have been difficult to reach.
Along the eastern flank, firefighters completed indirect containment lines and found opportunities to move to more direct suppression along the fire’s edge.
On the southern portion of the fire, crews continued constructing direct containment lines despite challenging conditions, Schenck said.
Firefighters also remained focused on protecting structures in and around LeBaron, Elk Meadows Ski Resort, Hi-Lo and nearby cabin communities. Crews spent Sunday mopping up around cabins and other structures, work that officials said will continue day and night.
In addition, firefighters are establishing remote “spike camps” that allow crews to remain overnight in isolated areas and begin work immediately each morning without returning to a base camp.
Incident Meteorologist Jason Straub said a cold front moved across the fire Sunday evening, bringing several weather changes that are expected to reduce fire activity overnight.
The front shifted winds to the north while generally keeping speeds below 15 mph. Relative humidity, which fell to about 25% during the day, is expected to recover to between 60% and 70% overnight. Temperatures are forecast to drop to near freezing before dawn across portions of the fire area.
“It’s going to bring some moderated fire behavior to the fire line overnight into tomorrow morning,” Straub said.
Looking ahead, Straub said the coming week is expected to bring a gradual drying trend and a return to southwest winds, although not as strong as those experienced in recent days.
Incident Commander trainee Wayne Rushing said firefighters also assisted residents Sunday by helping retrieve about 60 trailers from affected communities. Crews also assessed logging equipment that officials hope to move Monday.
“Today we were able to organize retrieval for some trailers in some of the communities. We brought out around 60 of those,” Rushing said.
Rushing thanked area residents for their continued support of firefighters and invited the public to attend the next community meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Beaver High School auditorium.
