This Lookout Livestream provides an update on Utah Wildfires for 6/29/2026
AI Summary of Lookout Livestream, edited by Zeke
Cottonwood Fire (Utah)
The Cottonwood Fire has largely quieted down after several active days earlier in the week. According to weather data from the Cottonwood Mountain station, strong nighttime humidity recovery (coupled with an easing of strong winds) has been a key factor in moderating fire behavior. Relative humidity has climbed into the 55–70% range at night, even though it still drops into the teens during the day. This has allowed large portions of the fire to effectively burn out on their own, especially where it encountered sparse fuels on the eastern flank.
A Forest Service photo from the east side of the fire shows crews engaged in mop-up, the unglamorous but critical work of wildland firefighting: scratching through ash, turning over logs, and searching for residual heat. While public perception often focuses on firefighters facing towering flames, the bulk of the work happens in these quieter phases.
Photo: US Forest Service
Growth on the Cottonwood Fire has been minimal over past 48 hours. The most challenging area remains the North Creek drainage, where old burn scars from about a decade ago have left heavy dead-and-down fuels in steep, difficult terrain. Access is poor, and much of this north and northwest perimeter is still not called contained.
Rough measurements put the fire’s perimeter at around 55 miles, and potentially close to 100 miles if every contour and “squiggle” is followed. Even with a large firefighting force, that is an enormous amount of line to check and secure. Operations maps show:
- Bulldozer line (dozer line) used both as direct and indirect control.
- Prepped roads and trails along ridges such as Cork and Bridger Ridges.
- Planned handline construction up the Cork Ridge Pine Trail and adjoining ridge systems.
- Pink-highlighted features denoting planned work, including additional prep and mixed hand/dozer line.
While much of the fire has effectively run out of fuel and stabilized, the north side remains a complex, labor-intensive problem, and is far from a “done deal” if weather and winds shift.
Wild Goose Fire (Utah)
The Wild Goose Fire, located north of Cottonwood, is also showing limited spread at this stage. Although mapping layers were not fully loading during the report, infrared and operations information give a consistent picture.
Key points:
- The fire crossed Highway 50, but dozer line now surrounds that slop-over, which has shown no spread for the last two days.
- Dozer line ties into Route 20 and extends along the base of the slopes.
- Operations maps depict:
- Completed dozer line along key flanks.
- Proposed dozer line and mixed line (dozer plus handline) in particularly steep and rugged terrain.
Much of the fire has run up to the top of the mountain, which tends to slow further downhill runs compared to its initial uphill runs. Still, the current situation is tactically delicate. Portions of the fire are hot, others cold or inactive, creating a patchwork of risk.
To finish containment, crews may need to work along ridges and trail systems to conduct firing operations that tie the fire into control lines. However, posting firefighters on ridge tops above terrain that is still “skunking around” (smoldering and creeping) carries real danger if winds change or fire behavior suddenly intensifies. At the north end, the fully contained Tower Fire provides an anchor that helps limit potential northward spread if Wild Goose were to reawaken.
Cherry Fire (Utah)
The Cherry Fire, near Eureka, is trending positively and appears to be well on its way to containment.
- Overnight infrared imaging shows no significant new growth.
- Operations maps indicate that Eureka Park is now completely blacked in, meaning containment line has been secured and held around that area.
- A completed burnout has been recorded on a portion of the fire perimeter, with black (contained) line increasingly surrounding the incident.
Zeke notes an important distinction between grass fires and timber fires. Grass fires like Cherry tend to:
- Burn quickly through light fuels.
- Go out more readily once they stop moving.
- Require less exhaustive mop-up compared to deep, woody fuels in timber.
As a result, incident commanders can call sections of a grass fire contained sooner, provided there’s no movement beyond the perimeter, whereas timber fires often demand extensive digging and stirring of buried embers before they can be considered secure.
Pocket Fire (Arizona)
The Pocket Fire, burning near Flagstaff, Arizona, remains one of the more active and tactically complex fires discussed in the report.
Satellite heat data shows ongoing activity and some growth along the flanks, giving the fire a distinctive “hammerhead” shape. This is partly a product of both natural fire spread and firing operations:
- Earlier, the fire made a run.
- With a subsequent period of favorable winds, crews used existing road systems to conduct large-scale burnout operations.
- By putting fire on the ground ahead of the main fire and allowing it to burn back into the oncoming front, they rapidly created broad swaths of black—often a more realistic option than attempting to construct very wide bare-mineral fire lines.
These firing operations, while powerful tools, can be risky under critical fire weather conditions. Escaped burns do happen, particularly in some of the most volatile burning conditions seen in recent years. Nonetheless, fire-on-the-ground tactics remain central to controlling large wildfires.
The Pocket Fire’s incident map is notably complex, featuring an exceptionally long legend (over 100 items) that captures:
- Primary and contingency containment boxes (including a key blue-line primary box).
- Prepped road systems and potential firing corridors.
- Water sources, tanks, and drop points for aerial and ground operations.
- Sensitive resource layers, including critical garter snake habitat, which shape where and how line construction can occur.
This is a prime example of how GIS (Geographic Information Systems) maps integrate diverse data layers—operational needs, environmental protections, and logistics—into a single planning tool. While this can make the map visually dense, it reflects the intricate balancing act between fire suppression, resource protection, and crew safety.
Everyone in the Southwest is effectively waiting on the monsoon to arrive and moderate conditions, but so far the monsoon is not cooperating.
Babylon Fire (Utah, near Blanding/Monticello)
The Babylon Fire, burning in remote country near Blanding and Monticello, is currently the most significant ongoing fire in Utah.
Unlike Cottonwood, Wild Goose, or Cherry, Babylon is still actively expanding:
- Heat signatures show fire in multiple directions, with fingers pushing out from the main body.
- On the day of the report, the fire threw a notable finger to the west or southwest, which could align with forecast southwest winds and open up new country for it to burn.
The terrain is a major factor:
- The fire is burning in wilderness and roadless areas, characterized as “crazy tough country.”
- Access is limited, and the fire is “doing what it wants,” suggesting that indirect tactics and long-duration monitoring may be necessary.
From a values-at-risk standpoint, Babylon is relatively isolated:
- Few scattered ranches are in the area.
- The Nature Conservancy has holdings and a research facility out there, still some distance from the current fire edge.
- Overall, the area is described as being out in “BFE”—far from major population centers.
Given the combination of rugged terrain, limited access, and ongoing spread in multiple directions, Babylon is expected to be a long-duration incident that will remain active well beyond the more stabilized Utah fires.
Broader Context and Safety Message
Zeke also reflects on a recent fatal incident involving the Rifle Helitack Crew, whose members were killed in the line of duty. He underscores the human cost of wildfire suppression, especially under extreme conditions, and draws a direct line between community preparedness and firefighter safety:
- Homeowners in high-risk areas are urged to reduce fuels around their properties, creating defensible space.
- The better a home is prepped and hardened against fire, the more likely it is that engines and crews can safely stay to defend it.
- Communities that do not take mitigation seriously are effectively asking firefighters to assume unacceptable levels of risk.
His closing message is clear: protecting your home from wildfire starts long before smoke is on the horizon, and the work you do now can directly reduce the danger faced by the firefighters who may be called to protect it.