Rocky Canyon Fire, Southwest of Henefer, 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

Location6 miles southwest of Henefer, UT

CauseHuman

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

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

JurisdictionDFF · Private land

Cost so far$6.2 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

Following a 76-day campaign that consumed 16,464 acres of short grass across Morgan County, Utah, the Rocky Canyon Fire southwest of Henefer has officially ended. Burning at an average daily growth of roughly 217 acres per day after starting on August 7, 2026, the incident ultimately required a Type 3 Incident response and two personnel operating on private land under the direction of the DFF. The human-caused blaze burned during a regional fire season that typically spans from June to October.

By the time crews fully contained and extinguished the incident, the total cost reached about $6.2 million, or 6,200,000 USD. Toward the end of its run, fire behavior had dropped to minimal, smoldering, and creeping activity in the one-foot short grass fuels. Across the country, the broader 2026 fire season has seen 3,430,104 hectares burned so far, tracking 37% below the two-decade average.