New evacuations ordered as Black Canyon Fire grows

ORANGEVILLE, Emery County — New evacuations are being ordered in central Utah, as a growing wildfire in the region could move toward a subdivision.

The Reeder Subdivision within Emery County, located north of Joes Valley Reservoir, is now under a "Level 3 GO Evacuation Order," meaning that people are urged to evacuate the area by 6 p.m. Monday, Emery County Sheriff's officials said. It wasn't immediately clear how many people would be evacuated.

"The wind forecast in the Black Canyon Fire area for later today is not favorable, and it has the potential to push the fire toward the subdivision," the agency wrote in a social media post. "The sheriff's office will be going door-to-door and will be sending out an emergency notification to known property owners in that area."

The Black Canyon Fire started by a lightning strike within the Manti-La Sal National Forest a little more than 15 miles east of Ephraim in Sanpete County on Thursday, but it surged during extreme fire weather conditions over the weekend. It jumped from more than 100 acres Saturday morning to 500 acres by Monday, crossing into Emery County as it grew.

It remains 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Several roads are closed in the area, as is the popular Potters Pond campground.

Over 70 firefighters were assigned to the fire on Monday, but extreme fire weather conditions are expected to remain over the next few days.

The National Weather Service issued a series of red flag warnings that cover large swaths of central, eastern and southern Utah. Heat, wind and low relative humidity can make it easier for any new fire starts or existing fires to "spread rapidly," the agency warns.

The Black Canyon Fire still hasn't grown as quickly as another fire burning in the region. The Widemouth 2 Fire has now burned 36,438 acres, prompting evacuations in Millard County as it tripled in size over the weekend.

Nearly 400 firefighters were assigned to it on Monday as it remains 0% contained.

Both fires pushed the number of acres lost in Utah to over 400,000 acres this year. Nearly 750 fires have burned close to 425,000 acres, or over 660 square miles, so far this year, the state's most destructive year since 2018.

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