BEAVER, UTAH — Three U.S. Wildland Fire Service firefighters died and two were injured on Saturday, June 27, 2026, while battling fires on the Colorado-Utah border. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service reported the casualties on Sunday.

The firefighters were part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service was created earlier this year to streamline firefighting and fire reduction across public lands.

The Cottonwood Fire, burning in rugged terrain in southwest Utah, had grown to more than 144 square miles (373 square kilometers) by Saturday. This fire destroyed part of a ski resort and other summer cabins.

Authorities in Beaver County began working with fire teams on Saturday to assess the extent of the damage. No damage estimates were immediately available. Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson, noted the difficulty of accessing the terrain. "It's hard to get dozers and other heavy equipment into that. It's hard to get engines into that. It doesn't make it impossible to firefight, but it does just kind of slow things down," Mason said.

Hundreds of firefighters have been arriving in Utah to battle new and growing fires. Forecasters described critical fire weather conditions as dangerously low humidity levels, warm temperatures, and gusty winds.

Utah experienced its record-low snowpack and warmest winter on record. Gov. Spencer Cox declared an emergency earlier this week in Utah, which allowed the state to ban fireworks ahead of the July Fourth holiday. State Forester Jamie Barnes said that over the past week, Utah has seen an increase in wildfire starts, with each fire showing unprecedented behavior.

Crews worked Saturday to corral dozens of fires from Alaska to Florida, with three dozen fires classified as large and uncontained. Nearly 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) have burned nationally since the start of the year, exceeding the 10-year average. Forecasters with the National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for a wide swath of the West, from California to Arizona and New Mexico.

Parts of northern Arizona were without power Saturday as the utility serving the area initiated a safety shut-off. Power lines serving Beaver County and other areas in Utah were also shut off.