- Evan Stapley's family cabin in Beaver was destroyed in the Cottonwood Fire.
- The fire has so far burned tens of thousands of acres, damaging homes and affecting Eagle Point Ski Resort.
- Gov. Spencer Cox earlier stated it might be Utah's most destructive wildfire in terms of structures lost.
BEAVER — For Evan Stapley, Beaver Mountain was more than a place to escape.
It was where his family built memories.
"To me, nothing's more beautiful than Beaver Mountain in the fall," said Stapley. "The aspen yellow, and you get the reds in there and all the greens. There is nothing more beautiful in the world."
Now, the family cabin where those memories were made is gone.
He says it was burned in the Cottonwood Fire sometime in the past few days.
A friend sent him video of where his cabin used to be.
"I saw that and went, 'That's just unbelievable,'" he said. "The fire must have moved so fast and twirled around in there and just took it."
He's not the only one feeling the loss.
The Cottonwood Fire has burned tens of thousands of acres in Beaver and Piute counties and several cabins, homes, and structures.
The Eagle Point Ski Resort was also heavily damaged.
After touring the area, Gov. Spencer Cox said the fire may become the most destructive wildfire in Utah history in terms of structures lost.
"We know that there are hundreds of cabins on this mountain, hundreds of condos. I can't speculate. All I can say is that this fire did not act like other fires, and it was impossible to protect those assets," said Cox.
The loss has hit the community hard.
"Everybody is so emotional, and we're so devastated," said Beaver County Commissioner Tammy Pearson. "In my lifetime, I'll never see it the same."
Cox said if there is a bright spot with the fire, it's that no one was killed.
Emergency crews were able to evacuate everyone in this critical first few hours.
The loss to wildlife remains unknown, as does the extent of the damage.
A property assessment crew was being organized Thursday morning to begin assessing what was lost.
Stapley said losing the cabin has been especially painful because of what it represented for his family.
"I cried," he said. "I've got too many memories, too many memories of that place."
He feels those who own homes and property in the area will rely on each other to help get through this.
"We've got kind of a camaraderie between us all, and we help each other at different times. We will be pulling for each other," he said. "We're going to have to rebound and say, 'OK, now what do we do?' Our goal is to rebuild. We just feel the need."
