Lightning and a train sparked three small fires in Summit County Thursday and Friday, all kept under an acre thanks to fire crews.
The small fires come as the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City issued a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning Friday.
The office said on X it was the first elevated red flag warning it has ever issued.
A PDS Red Flag Warning is in effect Friday from 9 AM to midnight for portions of the Southwest Desert, Central & Southern Mountains including the #CottonwoodFire. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. Gusty winds & dry conditions will lead to very rapid fire growth. #utwx pic.twitter.com/AExO4hCYdG
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) June 25, 2026
The particularly dangerous fire warning covered central and southern Utah where the nation’s largest burning wildfire, the Cottonwood Fire, raged east of Beaver.
Most of Utah, not including the upper Uinta Mountains, was under a red flag warning as of Friday. That means high fire risk from low humidity, high winds and other factors.
“There’s certainly a risk in the Wasatch Back right now, which is why we do have that red flag warning … but the greatest risk looking across the area that we service, which is the majority of the state, is actually down in southwest Utah,” NWS meteorologist Darren Van Cleave said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” June 26.
The North Summit Fire District responded to a train-caused fire beside the Union Pacific tracks in Echo Friday morning. It was a tenth of an acre, and Battalion Chief Tyler Rowser told KPCW it was contained to the railroad right-of-way.
And lightning sparked two small fires in the lower Uintas late Thursday and Friday morning.
They were both south of Mirror Lake Highway and the Yellow Pine area, north of state Route 35. Both were also less than an acre, and Summit County had fire crews on scene.
Fireworks and exploding targets are banned on Forest Service land. But there were no other restrictions in the Uinta Mountains as of Friday evening.
The rest of unincorporated Summit County must follow Stage 2 fire restrictions. That bans all fires except from gas-powered devices with a shut-off valve.
Fireworks are banned across Utah through July 5 after Gov. Spencer Cox issued an emergency executive order Thursday.
Municipalities are allowed to carve out exceptions, although none have in Summit County.
Every city in Wasatch County has banned fireworks through July 5 too.
