Utah's historic fire season of 2026
Early last month, Utah experienced two historic wildfires at the same time, highlighting the record-setting fire season continuing to unfold in the Beehive State.
Utah is currently experiencing its most devastating fire season on record, with over 456,000 acres burned across all land-cover types from 752 ignitions. Two major wildfires, the Widemouth 2 in Millard County and the Babylon fire in San Juan County, have blackened record amounts of woodland and forest. The Widemouth 2 fire, now out of control, has scorched about 85,000 acres since July 27, while the Babylon fire's plume reached the stratosphere, penetrating the highest altitude ever recorded for a Utah wildfire.
These fires have had unprecedented impacts on Utah's tree cover, with three fires burning more than 50,000 acres of trees each - a first in the state's history. Such fires have become increasingly common, with 27% of forest and 20% of woodland burned since 1986 happening in just the past three years. The fires pose significant economic and ecosystem impacts, including increased potential for flash flooding and disruption to water supplies and recreation economies.
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