After a winter ofbelow-average snowpackand an unusually warm and dry start to summer, the National Interagency Fire Centerwarnedthat the Great Basin and parts of the Rockies faced an elevated risk of wildfires in July 2026.
The warning proved accurate.
By July 7, firefighters labored to contain nearly three dozen large, early-season wildland fires that raced through forests in several parts of the western U.S. Utahwas among the most active states, with fires having charred 558 square miles andfour major firesthat were not fully contained still burning.
TheCottonwood fireranked as one of Utah’s—and the country’s—largest and most destructive fires of the year so far.
As of July 7, it had burned 150 square miles, just shy of the Babylon firein eastern Utah.
Landsat 9captured thefalse-colorimage above on June 29, 2026, when blackened vegetation spanned a large patch of rugged terrain along the Beaver River.
The image on the left shows the same area on June 5, a few weeks before the fire ignited.
In this band combination of shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light, unburned vegetation appears bright green, snow is blue, and clouds are white.
Ponderosa pine, oak, sagebrush, and grasses were among the vegetation types that burned.
Officials with the state’s forestry division told news media that the Cottonwood fire had destroyed up to150 structures.
Eagle Point Ski Resort, which lost more than100 condos and 30 cabins, alsoreported damageto four of its five chairlifts.
The damage to forests was extensive, though isolated patches survived largely unscathed, remaining as green oases within the broader burned area.
Among them were the forests around Tushar Campground, the site of a 4-H summer camp.
Beaver County officialscreditedyears of forest treatments, such as clearing brush and trimming branches, with helping save the campground and surrounding forests.
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As the fire spread, NASA’sFire Events Data Suite tracked its progression and rate of growth.
The visualization above, based on the FEDS system, shows the firesurgingon June 23 and tripling in size over 12 hours that day as it spread to the north, east, and south.
It also grew rapidly on June 26, when it made a run to the north.
FEDS draws on data from theVIIRS sensors aboard the Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites, which detect active fires day and night by theirthermal infrared signature.
FEDS is one of several tools available to firefighters and emergency management officials when responding to fires.
First responders often rely on higher-resolution airborne imagers or on firefighters walking fire edges to map perimeters.
FEDS offers a different advantage: consistent, easily accessible data that do not need to be specially requested, according to Tempest McCabe, a University of Maryland scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who helped develop the tool.
As a result, FEDS often detects a fire’s start earlier than other sources and tracks blazes for their full duration.
To capitalize on strengths like these, the FEDS team is working closely with operationalfire behavior analysts, with support from NASA’sFireSense program, to better understand and anticipate periods of rapid fire spread.
A total of 1,289 firefighters have been deployed to the Cottonwood fire, according toInciWeb, a website managed by the National Interagency Fire Center.
As of July 7, the fire was 56 percent contained, but forecasters expect a hot, dry weather pattern to persist in the coming days, with fire behavior likely to be “very active to extreme” over the next 72 hours.
Government satellite data are part of a global system of observations used to track fire behavior and analyze emerging trends.
Among the real-time wildfire monitoring tools that NASA makes available areFIRMS, the Worldviewbrowser, and the Fire Event Explorer.
As of July 7, 2026, fires had burned 5,265 square miles across the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
That’s 46 percent more than the 10-year average for that point in the season.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from theU.S. Geological Surveyand fire perimeter data from the Fire Events Data Suite. Story by Adam Voiland.
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2KUTVBabylon Fire surpasses Cottonwood Fire as nation’s largest active wildfire. Accessed July 7, 2026.
KSL.comDespite devastation, Cottonwood Fire leaves behind ‘islands of hope’ on Beaver Mountain. Accessed July 7, 2026.
KUERCottonwood Fire is yet another blow to ranchers in a tough year for rural Utah. Accessed July 7, 2026.
NASA EarthdataWildfires. Accessed July 7, 2026.
National Interagency Fire CenterNational Fire News. Accessed July 7, 2026.
National Interagency Fire CenterIncident Management Situation Report Monday July 6. Accessed July 7, 2026.
National Interagency Fire CenterNational Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook. Accessed July 7, 2026.
The Salt Lake TribuneEagle Point owner shares photos of resort charred by Cottonwood Fire. Accessed July 7, 2026.
The Salt Lake TribuneUtah wildfires rank 1 and 2 as largest in the nation. Here’s the latest on big blazes. Accessed July 7, 2026.
U.S. Drought MonitorUtah. Accessed July 7, 2026.
Utah Fire Info Home2026 Season Summary. Accessed July 7, 2026.
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