Slough Canyon Fire, Utah (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 52

1,932Hectares4,774Acres52Days burning

Containment80%

Started on Aug 15, 2026. 20% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

66Active340Hotspots 48h868 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

Slough Canyon Fire (Utah) — Sentinel-2 true color

Slough Canyon Fire (Utah) — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

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

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Quick facts

Location: 41 miles east of Price, UT
Cause: Natural
People working on it: 1 people
Complexity: Type 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Timber (Grass and Understory)
How it's behaving: MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Jurisdiction: BIA · Federal land

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.

Burning across Grand County, Utah, 41 miles east of Price, the active Slough Canyon Fire has consumed 4,774 acres of timber, grass, and understory on federal land managed by the BIA. Having burned for 43 days since its natural ignition on August 15, 2026, the incident has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 111 acres per day. Fire behavior is currently minimal, characterized by smoldering and creeping.

Despite its prolonged duration, suppression efforts have brought the wildfire to 80 percent containment. A single personnel member operates under a Type 4 Incident command structure. The total accumulated cost to manage the Slough Canyon Fire has reached $1,713,000.

This incident unfolds within a broader regional and national context where the typical fire season runs from June to October. Across the country, 3,285,106 hectares have burned so far in 2026, tracking 40 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Utah for 51 days. So far it has affected roughly 4,774 acres — about 19 km². About 80% of the perimeter is contained — over half is secured, though hotspots remain.

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