Black Canyon Fire, Spring City, Utah

True view Fire view

⟷

True view (left): as the eye sees it.
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now

Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location29 miles southwest of Price, UT

CauseNatural

What's burningTimber (Litter and Understory)

How it's behavingMinimal, Single Tree TorchingCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Smoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionUSFS · Federal land

Cost so far$20.7 million

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

Wind carries embers through the air and starts new fires ahead of the front: that is how a fire jumps a road or a firebreak.

Wind Driven Runs

The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.

The ones marked ● are the behaviors that make a fire harder to stop. They are not a warning or an instruction: they are the description written by the agency in charge. For decisions, always follow your emergency services.

The story so far

Summary written on Sep 9, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across Sanpete, Utah, 29 miles southwest of Price, the Black Canyon Fire has burned 3,264 acres since it started on July 30, 2026. The fire has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 80 acres per day over its 41 days of burning, fueled by timber, litter, and understory on federal land managed by the USFS.

The incident is currently contained at 100 percent, with fire behavior noted as minimal, creeping, smoldering, and occasional single tree torching. Operations are supported by 26 personnel under a Type 3 Incident designation and a Type 4 Incident Commander, accumulating a total cost of $20,651,300. The cause of the fire has been determined as natural.

This event unfolds within the context of the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Across the country, a total of 3,188,211 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 42 percent below the two-decade average.