Heat, wind and drought conditions spark wildfires in US West

Extreme heat and dry, windy conditions fueled several wildfires in the West on Sunday, including an uncontained blaze in Utah that forced the evacuation of a small town southwest of Salt Lake City.

The Iron Fire in Utah’s Juab County was first detected Saturday and had blackened 34 square miles (87 square kilometers), authorities said. The fire about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of Salt Lake City forced the evacuation of Eureka, population 1,000, and people at a nearby ranch.

No homes had been lost, and UTAH Fire Info, a multiagency operation, said in a post on X that firefighters conducted a successful backburn operation to protect the town.

Kelly Wickens, a fire prevention specialist with the Utah Division of Forestry Fire and State Lands, warned that the fire was continuing to grow amid drought conditions. Wickens said the fire was human-caused and remains under investigation.

Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox visited the town Sunday.

“We knew that there was going to be extreme fire danger, and sure enough we had multiple fires,” Cox said.

The Iron Fire was one of six fires burning in Utah at varying levels of containment.

In neighboring Colorado, the southwest corner of the state was under a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service until Monday, due to gusty winds and low relative humidity.

A wildfire prompted evacuations over the weekend near Sedona, Arizona, burning about 300 acres (120 hectares) of steep and rugged terrain near Oak Creek Canyon. As of Sunday afternoon, the fire remained uncontained. Residents evacuated earlier were still not being allowed to return home.

Much of the Western U.S. from the Rockies to the Pacific coast saw above-average temperatures this weekend with even hotter weather anticipated for early next week. Officials also warned that the prolonged dry, hot weather and relatively low humidity increased the risk of fire danger.

Much of Utah is experiencing severe to extreme drought, while parts of Arizona and Colorado are experiencing severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Extreme heat claimed the lives of three hikers in two separate incidents last week in the Grand Canyon. Temperatures were expected to climb in the Southwest on Sunday, with a forecast of up to 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 C) in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Meanwhile, a brush fire in Miami-Dade County in Florida spread across 2,000 acres (800 hectares) on Saturday.