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Utah fire officials report 801 wildfires and rising share of human-caused starts this season
Summary
State Forester Jamie Barnes told the committee Utah has logged 801 wildfires so far in 2025, with about 70% now attributed to human causes and 161,223 acres burned statewide; the state has incurred roughly $29 million in estimated costs to date.
Jamie Barnes, state forester with the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, told the Interim Committee on Aug. 20 that Utah—s 2025 wildfire season has been unusually active and costly. “We have a total of a 93 responses to fires...and as of right now, we have 801 wildfires,” Barnes said, summarizing statewide incident counts and response levels.
Barnes said 93% of fires were contained at 10 acres or less but that human-caused ignitions have climbed. “Unfortunately, 564 of these fires have been human caused…We're now at 70%,” she said, and noted that the number of human starts increased compared with prior years. Barnes said the state has recorded 161,223 acres burned statewide in 2025, of which about 6,758 acres were state-owned and therefore a state financial responsibility. The five largest incidents this year included the Monroe Canyon fire (about 73,000 acres, now reported at about 84% contained), the France Canyon fire (34,000 acres), the Deer Creek fire (17,000 acres), the Foresight fire (15,000 acres) and the Beulah fire (about 4,900 acres).
On costs, Barnes said current estimated state costs are about $29 million and noted that federal Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAGs) are expected to reimburse much of the outlay; she said the FMAG-eligible costs are roughly $26 million and estimated that state net costs after federal reimbursement would be about $9 million for those fires. Barnes warned the season is not over and thanked crews for their efforts.
Committee members and members of the House and Senate who spoke about local impacts praised firefighters and described the Monroe Canyon fire—s destructive effects on cabins and local history in central Utah. Representative Albrecht described observing fire behavior and praised prior watershed restoration work for moderating fire behavior where thinning and prescribed treatments had been applied. Senator Owens recounted visiting the Monroe Mountain area and thanked crews for their work.
What the committee heard: State leaders emphasized challenging conditions this season — prolonged red-flag warnings, high winds (30–40 mph on some days), single-digit humidity and very low live-fuel moisture — and warned that those conditions drove rapid fire growth on multiple days.
No formal committee action followed the update; committee members expressed appreciation and asked questions about specific fires, containment and the cause distribution.
