Document Type

Report

Publisher

Utah State University

Publication Date

1-2026

First Page

1

Last Page

5

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

According to a national 2022 study published in the New York Times, the state of Utah bears the highest risk of property damage due to to wildfires when measured as a share of all properties.1 These findings, coupled with Utah’s rapid population growth and accompanying residential development in fire-prone environments, present a pressing emergency preparedness challenge for federal, state and local officials. Utahns who live in the St. George metro area, which includes Dameron Valley and Washington County, face the highest possibility of harm across the state.2 On July 31st, 2025, Governor Cox declared a thirty-day state of emergency in response to the large number of wildfires burning in the state.3 Among the summer’s most prominent fires were the Deer Creek Fire, which destroyed 13 structures (including primary and secondary homes) and required the evacuation of 250 residents4, and the Monroe Canyon Fire, which destroyed four structures and required evacuations and power shutdowns across several counties in central Utah.5

Comments

Funding Source: USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHaSS), USU Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, USU Institute for Land, Water, & Air, USU Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research, and Made by Fell.

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