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Wildfire Midseason 2026: Incidents, Lessons, Trends and Debrief

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Wildfire Summary to Date: 11 August 2026 Fire—start date Acres Full-containment status Start-to-containment Representative resources: personnel / crews / engines / helicopters Structures lost Documented suppression cost Wild Horse — May 13 7,025 100% by May 19 ≈6 days 110 / 3 / 8 / 0 0 $1.0M Tower — June 7 1,369 100% by June 15 ≈8 days 52 / 1 / 5 / 0 0 At least $1.3M Iron — June 19 41,842 100% July 4 15 days 628 / 16 / 27 / 5 6 $9.9M Cottonwood — June 22 97,464 95%; active 50 days so far 1,305 / 35 / 40 / 11 185 At least $58.7M Cherry — June 26 34,252 100% July 7 11 days 412 / 16 / 18 / 0 1 At least $5.1M Wild Goose — June 26 12,665 100% July 19 23 days 589 / 16 / 28 / 3; later 7 helicopters 0 At least $7.3M Widemouth 2 — July 27 122,759 30%; active 15 days so far 877 / 23 / 40 / 7 6 $21.9M so far Black Canyon — July 30 3,531 0%; active 12 days so far 414 / 11 / 20 / 1 0 $4.1M so far These eight fires total  320,907 reported acres  and a documented suppression-cost floor of ap...
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Structure Protection in the WUI

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W hile there are those who build in the Wilderness-Urban Interface (WUI) who are at the same time responsible, have plenty of money and time, and understand the need and, on the whole, the overwhelming ecological and often scenic benefits of and for projects that reduce risk of loss during a wildfire event on the property, most people have a lack of at least two or three of these drivers of fuels assessment and reduction previous to a wildfire event.  And that's where we come in with "Structure Protection." Indeed that work is only one often small part of the process of Structure Pro- and keep in mind that it is a process that sometimes takes more time than is available in the face of a Wildland fire threat. Here are a few learning aids that describe, educate on, and facilitate the processes that precede, enable, and strengthen the structure protection role that we take on as Wildland firefighters, whether volunteers, professionals, or contractors on the fireground. Video...
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Wildfire Red Card Refresher 2023 (RT-130)

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Wildfire Red Card Refresher (RT-130) Spring City Fire Department - 28 February 2023 Little Sahara BLM Portion Watch ‘Oh, its Just a Grass Fire' video - YouTube LCES + P  Fight complacency  Cut fence, don't jump fence  Rookies: speak-up about what you see or need! Often it's something important that the veterans have overlooked or forgotten... Situational Awareness + Assessment Importance of anchor points and “Fighting from the Black/Dragging the Black” Review radio comms and practice with radios Communications > better actions + smoother/quicker reactions  Best possible engagement in the fight S130 + S190 and LCES = the basics that bring us home after the fire Bring up the little things in AAR - That’s what keeps us aware and careful  Richfield Interagency Interagency Center/ RIFC Portion New Numbers for NIFC: (435) 896-8404 on-call: (435) 348-1678   Contact Sanpete Dispatch, then RIFC for anything outside city limits with the ...
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Wildfire Firefighting: Preparation, Building Confidence, and Getting Ready to Lead

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There's a lot to learn about the field of firefighting, especially when one considers the jobs and trainings for both structural firefighting and wildfire firefighting. Since we're smack-dab in the season for wildfires, here are a few sites for reading, viewing, and consideration of how to get prepared and maintain your progress in wildfire understanding throughout the year. First, from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, a couple of great pages with important information on what to expect from wildfire situations and how to grow in knowledge.  • https://www.nwcg.gov/wfldp/toolbox A great place to start learning about basic practices involved in day-to-day wildfire operations.  • Also from NCWG, the Wildland Fire Leadership Training Program. A fantastic place to start understanding what it takes to develop the skills and confidence required for the stressful and demanding field of wildfire operations. Start checking it out and I think you'll understand how a little b...
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Scene Awareness and How to Stay Safe (Really Safe, That Is!)

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 A quick video outlining and testing situational awareness and demonstrating the concept of 'tunnel vision' from VOC TV. They've got a few, so check a couple out and exercise your mind! A vid from Mike Rowe's series on the S.W.E.A.T. pledge. Some great concepts here, but specific to our purposes is Pledge 6, on maintaining true safety in all situations. Check it out and post a comment on your experience below.
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