{"id":2469,"date":"2026-06-28T20:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T20:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2469"},"modified":"2026-06-28T20:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T20:33:22","slug":"three-firefighters-killed-as-wildfires-rage-across-the-southwest-prompting-fireworks-restrictions-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2469","title":{"rendered":"Three firefighters killed as wildfires rage across the Southwest, prompting fireworks restrictions in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Three firefighters have died battling a fast-moving blaze along the Colorado-Utah border, officials said, as dozens of infernos rage across the Southwest, with Utah imposing sweeping restrictions on Fourth of July fireworks ahead of the nation\u2019s 250th Independence Day.<\/p>\n

Read more Flagstaff to implement Stage 2 fire restrictions June 30 as wildfire danger increases<\/a><\/p>\n

The National Weather Service has issued the highest possible fire weather risk, warning that dry air and windy gusts pose an \u201cextremely critical\u201d risk of fire conditions over the Four Corners region this weekend.<\/p>\n

The three firefighters died while battling the fast-growing Snyder Mesa Fire, which has burned more than 28,000 acres along the Utah-Colorado border, the US Wildland Fire Service said late Saturday. Two others were injured and transported to hospital, the service said.<\/p>\n

RELATED STORY | <\/b>Fast-moving fire in Utah, the largest in the US, spreads overnight, leading to more evacuations<\/b><\/p>\n

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency Saturday in Mesa County in reaction to the blaze, which he said had crossed into Colorado from Utah, and authorized the state\u2019s National Guard to support response efforts.<\/p>\n

Utah\u2019s governor announced last week firework restrictions for Fourth of July, saying a historic drought, hundreds of wildfires and unprecedented fire behavior have stretched Utah\u2019s firefighting resources to the brink.<\/p>\n

\u201cUtahns love celebrating the Fourth of July with family, friends and fireworks. I do too. But this year is different,\u201d Cox said. \u201cWe are seeing fire behavior that even our most experienced firefighters say they\u2019ve never witnessed before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire threat is so severe that the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City issued its first-ever \u201cparticularly dangerous situation\u201d red flag warning, which covers central and southern Utah and includes the Cottonwood Fire, the state\u2019s largest active blaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a temporary measure for an extraordinary year,\u201d Cox said of the fireworks ban. \u201cIt protects lives and homes while allowing local leaders, working alongside their fire officials, to identify areas where fireworks can be used safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some municipalities, local leaders working alongside fire officials will designate approved areas where fireworks can still be used under safer conditions.<\/p>\n

The Cottonwood Fire, burning through the Fishlake National Forest east of Beaver, Utah, has grown to more than 92,000 acres as of Saturday morning, an area bigger than Salt Lake City, in just a few days and remains 0% contained as of Saturday night. Evacuations are in place for the fire, which state and local officials believe is likely Utah\u2019s most destructive and costly wildfire on record. Its cause is still under investigation.<\/p>\n

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | <\/b>Yes, wildfires are actually becoming more intense and more common, study says<\/b><\/p>\n

A total of 1,066 personnel are battling the Cottonwood Fire, where crews have been warned to stay vigilant of the dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always have safety first out there, and as soon as we see things or we start getting feelings, we\u2019ve told the guys they don\u2019t like it, disengage, get to a safe place,\u201d Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson for the fire\u2019s emergency management team, told CNN affiliate KSL.<\/p>\n

State officials also warned that anyone whose illegal actions ignite a wildfire could face steep criminal charges and substantial civil liability for the damage caused.<\/p>\n

Read more Investigation underway after deadly shooting involving police near 35th Avenue and Greenway Road<\/a><\/p>\n

Beloved cabins and lifelong memories reduced to ashes<\/b><\/p>\n

As officials continue assessing the ongoing damage, the full toll of the Cottonwood Fire remains unknown. But across the Beaver Mountain community, residents are already grieving the loss of cherished cabins and family retreats that held generations of memories.<\/p>\n

For Evan Stapley, Beaver Mountain was more than a weekend getaway \u2014 it was woven into his family\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, nothing\u2019s more beautiful than Beaver Mountain in the fall,\u201d Stapley told CNN affiliate KSL. \u201cThe aspen yellow, and you get the reds in there and all the greens. There is nothing more beautiful in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the cabin where those memories were made has been reduced to ash. Stapley said he learned it had burned in the Cottonwood Fire after a friend sent him video of the spot where it once stood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that and went, \u2018That\u2019s just unbelievable,\u2019\u201d he told KSL. \u201cThe fire must have moved so fast and twirled around in there and just took it \u2026 I cried,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019ve got too many memories, too many memories of that place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire also dealt a devastating blow to Eagle Point Ski Resort, where several buildings were damaged or destroyed. In a Facebook post, owner Shane Gadbaw said the resort will remain closed as it recovers from what he called a catastrophe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thankful that to our knowledge, there have been no human casualties from the fire,\u201d Gadbaw said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

Residents gathered Friday in Piute County as the Cottonwood Fire pushed closer, with flames visible in the distance and smoke settling across the valley, to hear updates and discuss emergency response plans, KSTU reported.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, Nick Schenk of Great Basin Team 5, one of the first responders who fought the blaze Monday, delivered an emotional account of the battle against the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did everything we absolutely could. We called for every bit of help we could find. And about all we could do was get people out of the way of it,\u201d Schenk told KSTU.<\/p>\n

Photos shared by the resort Thursday showed a handful of lodges still standing amid a landscape of blackened trees.<\/p>\n

Farther north, the Iron Fire near Eureka, Utah, has burned more than 40,000 acres after forcing evacuations earlier this week. Nearby, the Cherry Fire, sparked by lightning Friday morning, has already grown to more than 30,000 acres.<\/p>\n

Another blaze, the Wild Goose Fire, ignited near Holden on Friday, adding to a growing list of active wildfires across Utah. State fire officials estimated by Saturday evening it had burned over 10,000 acres as crews worked to assess and contain its spread.<\/p>\n

The-CNN-Wire\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Spring Fire prompts \u2018GO\u2019 evacuations near Flagstaff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three firefighters have died battling the Snyder Mesa Fire on the Colorado-Utah border as dozens of wildfires rage across the Southwest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThree firefighters killed as wildfires rage across the Southwest, prompting fireworks restrictions in Utah - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2469\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three firefighters killed as wildfires rage across the Southwest, prompting fireworks restrictions in Utah - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Three firefighters have died battling the Snyder Mesa Fire on the Colorado-Utah border as dozens of wildfires rage across the Southwest.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2469\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-28T20:33:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Three firefighters killed as wildfires rage across the Southwest, prompting fireworks restrictions in Utah\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T20:33:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469\"},\"wordCount\":1036,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d8026a8707702645ac85b60eb8cafb1c-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"National News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469\",\"name\":\"Three firefighters killed as wildfires rage across the Southwest, prompting fireworks restrictions in Utah - Arizona Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d8026a8707702645ac85b60eb8cafb1c-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T20:33:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2469#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d8026a8707702645ac85b60eb8cafb1c-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d8026a8707702645ac85b60eb8cafb1c-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Firefighters gather near the Cottonwood Fire near Junction, Utah, on Friday, June 26, 2026. 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