Utah declares emergency in three counties after wildfires and catastrophic flooding
Gov. Spencer Cox declared an emergency on July 22 for Beaver, Piute and Sevier counties following extensive wildfires and catastrophic flooding, activating the Utah Emergency Operations Plan for the affected areas.
The declaration provides the state’s emergency-response framework for the three counties as officials continue to address combined wildfire and flood hazards. According to the governor’s office, the order allows continued deployment of resources, efforts to obtain hazard-mitigation funding and requests for additional assistance.
The order is directed specifically at Beaver, Piute and Sevier counties. It is a state emergency action; the announcement does not say that it guarantees federal aid.
Wildfire damage and flood risk
The declaration follows a severe wildfire season statewide. The governor’s office reported that more than 590 wildfires had burned nearly 380,000 acres across Utah.
In Beaver and Piute counties, the Cottonwood Fire had burned more than 97,000 acres, according to the release. That fire total is part of the broader wildfire context cited for the emergency action.
State officials also identified burn scars as a continuing concern. Burned areas can carry heightened risks of flash flooding and debris flows, and the governor’s office cited those hazards in announcing the declaration.
The release does not attribute all flooding in Utah to wildfires. Instead, it identifies the increased danger associated with burn scars while the three counties face both wildfire-related damage and flooding risks.
What the declaration changes
Activation of the Utah Emergency Operations Plan puts the state’s emergency coordination structure into effect for the emergency identified in the order. The governor’s office said the action supports continued resource deployment and efforts to seek additional assistance, including from state, federal and interstate partners.
The declaration also supports efforts to pursue hazard-mitigation funding. The release does not announce a specific amount of funding, identify a total cost for response or recovery, or provide an overall damage estimate.
Likewise, the governor’s announcement does not provide current containment percentages for individual fires. It also does not set out a public end date for the declaration.
For communities in Beaver, Piute and Sevier counties, the immediate state action is continued emergency response under the activated plan while officials work to manage hazards associated with the fires and the potential for flooding and debris flows near burned areas.
Flooding losses reported elsewhere in the state
The governor’s office also reported that Provo Fire Captain Spencer Long, his wife, Katrina, and their three children were killed in a Wayne County flash flood. The reported deaths were five members of one family.
Wayne County is separate from the three counties named in the emergency declaration. The deaths were included in the governor’s broader account of the flooding emergency, while the formal order covers Beaver, Piute and Sevier counties.
The next stated course is continued response through the emergency plan, including resource deployment, hazard-mitigation funding efforts and requests for further assistance. The release did not provide a timeline for ending the emergency declaration or a fire-by-fire update on containment.
Sources
- Gov. Cox declares state of emergency for Beaver, Piute and Sevier counties following wildfires and catastrophic flooding, Office of Gov. Spencer J. Cox