Image source: assets.science.nasa.gov
A Fiery Start to Summer
Early-season blazes challenge firefighters across the U.S. West
After a winter marked by below-average snowpack and an unusually warm, dry start to summer, the National Interagency Fire Center had warned that the Great Basin and parts of the Rockies faced an elevated risk of wildfires in July 2026. That warning became reality as firefighters by July 7 were battling nearly three dozen large, early-season wildland fires across several western states.
Utah emerged as one of the most active states, with fires having charred 558 square miles (1,445 square kilometers). Four major fires remained uncontained. Among them, the Cottonwood fire ranked as one of the largest and most destructive in the state—and the country—so far that year. As of July 7, it had burned 150 square miles (390 square kilometers), an area just shy of the Babylon fire in eastern Utah.
The blaze destroyed up to 150 structures, according to state forestry officials, and caused extensive damage to Eagle Point Ski Resort, which lost more than 100 condos and 30 cabins. Four of the resort’s five chairlifts were also damaged. The fire swept through parts of the ski area, underscoring the reach of the flames into developed mountain terrain.
Satellite Eyes on the Flames
NASA’s FEDS system tracks the fire’s explosive growth
NASA’s Fire Events Data Suite (FEDS) provided critical real-time monitoring of the Cottonwood fire’s progression. The system, which draws on data from the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensors aboard the Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites, detects active fires day and night by their thermal infrared signature.
A visualization based on FEDS data showed the fire surging on June 23 and tripling in size over 12 hours as it spread north, east, and south. It grew rapidly again on June 26, making a run to the north. The tool offers consistent, easily accessible data that do not need to be specially requested, according to Tempest McCabe, a University of Maryland scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who helped develop FEDS. As a result, FEDS often detects a fire’s start earlier than other sources and tracks blazes for their full duration.
The FEDS team is working closely with operational fire behavior analysts, with support from NASA’s FireSense program, to better understand and anticipate periods of rapid fire spread—a capability that could prove increasingly vital as wildfire seasons grow more intense.
Landscape Before and After
Landsat 9 captures the scar and the survivors
Landsat 9 captured a false-color image of the burned area on June 29, 2026, showing blackened vegetation across a large patch of rugged terrain along the Beaver River. An image from June 5, weeks before the fire ignited, provided a stark contrast. In the band combination used (shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light), unburned vegetation appears bright green, snow is blue, and clouds are white.
Ponderosa pine, oak, sagebrush, and grasses were among the vegetation types that burned. Despite the extensive damage, isolated patches survived largely unscathed, remaining as green oases within the broader burned area. Among them were the forests around Tushar Campground, the site of a 4-H summer camp. Beaver County officials credited years of forest treatments—such as clearing brush and trimming branches—with helping save the campground and surrounding forests.
As of July 7, the Cottonwood fire was 56 percent contained, with 1,289 firefighters deployed, according to InciWeb, a website managed by the National Interagency Fire Center. However, forecasters expected a hot, dry weather pattern to persist, with fire behavior likely to be “very active to extreme” over the following 72 hours.
A Broader Context: A Season of Elevated Risk
National fire activity already exceeds the 10-year average
The Cottonwood fire is part of a larger pattern of heightened wildfire activity across the United States. As of July 7, 2026, fires had burned 5,265 square miles (13,636 square kilometers) nationwide, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That figure is 46 percent more than the 10-year average (2016–2025) for that point in the season.
The early-season intensity has been driven by a combination of factors: below-average snowpack, warm temperatures, and dry conditions that primed forests and grasslands for ignition. The Great Basin and parts of the Rockies were identified as particularly vulnerable in the interagency center’s July outlook.
Government satellite data are part of a global system of observations used to track fire behavior and analyze emerging trends. NASA makes several real-time wildfire monitoring tools available, including FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), the Worldview browser, and the Fire Event Explorer. These tools help firefighters, emergency managers, and scientists understand not only where fires are burning but how they behave—and how that behavior might change in a warming climate.
Based on reporting from science.nasa.gov
