A wildfire burning in Beaver County, Utah has grown past 70,000 acres and remains 0% contained, officials said Thursday. State officials warned it is on track to become the most destructive fire in state history.
The Cottonwood Fire ignited around 3:36 p.m. on Monday and grew by more than 10,000 acres between Wednesday and Thursday. It is one of 353 wildfires currently burning across Utah, which together have consumed more than 220 square miles.
"This is likely the most destructive and costly fire in terms of property damage that the state has ever seen," said Jamie Barnes, the Utah State Forester and Director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, at a Thursday news conference alongside Governor Spencer Cox.
Barnes warned that conditions heading into the weekend will make firefighting significantly harder for the more than 1,000 personnel battling the blaze.
"The forecast heading into Friday and Saturday includes very strong winds and extremely low humidity," Barnes said. "In some places, we may see gusts of up to 40 to 50 mph and humidity in the single digits."
The fire destroyed the popular Eagle Point ski lodge on Wednesday. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect Thursday for areas including Eagle Point and Merchant Valley. The town of Eureka, with a population of just over 600, was also completely evacuated due to the separate Iron Fire burning in Juab County, about 28 miles southwest of Provo. That fire had burned more than 37,000 acres and was 23% contained as of Thursday.
Fire officials believe the Cottonwood Fire was human-caused but have released no additional details.
Governor Cox announced a statewide ban on fireworks, including on the Fourth of July. He said the ban would "make sure communities are still standing on July 5th" and added, "I would not do this if it wasn't the worst possible situation that we've ever seen."
Barnes said every county in Utah is experiencing severe drought, and 23 counties are in extreme drought. She said any spark can start a fire that spreads up to 1,000 acres within a few hours. Two other wildfires in the state have also burned at least 30,000 acres each.
The fire ban takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday.