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Cottonwood Fire (UT)

Active · 95% contained · 97,464 acres · started 2026-06-22 · updated 2026-08-09

Cottonwood Fire (UT) — Sentinel-2 true color Cottonwood Fire (UT) — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego) True color Fire (SWIR)
True color (left): as the eye sees it.
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire

Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.

Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).

Quick facts

Location
5 Miles E from Beaver, UT
Personnel
42
Complexity
Type 3 Incident
Fuel
Timber (Litter and Understory)
Behavior
Minimal, Smoldering, Isolated Torching
Jurisdiction
USFS · Federal land

Burning for 48 days since its start on June 22, the active Cottonwood Fire near Beaver, Utah, has carved a destructive trajectory through federal timber, averaging 2,031 acres per day to reach a sprawling 97,464 acres. Situated five miles east of Beaver in Beaver County, the wildfire is currently displaying minimal, smoldering, and isolated torching fire behavior within its timber, litter, and understory fuels.

Despite the massive footprint of the incident, firefighting efforts led by the USFS have successfully brought the perimeter to 95 percent containment. A leaner Type 4 Incident response team consisting of 47 personnel managed by a Type 4 IC remains assigned to the blaze, which has accumulated total costs of $62,671,500.

This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader picture shows 2,702,782 hectares burned so far in 2026, tracking 51 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Utah for 64 days. So far it has affected roughly 97,464 acres — about 394 km². At 95% containment, the fire is nearly under control.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.

The bigger picture in United States

Across United States, roughly 3,021,962 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 45% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.

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