As the largest U.S. wildfire continued to rage in Utah on June 30, ranchers reported finding dead cattle strewn across burned grazing land, and the state agriculture commissioner said it could take years for ranchers to recover from the devastation.
The Cottonwood Fire in south-central Utah, one of at least 40 wildfires blazing in nine Western states, has grown to nearly 94,000 acres, or roughly the size of Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Fire officials said on Monday evening that an estimated 150 structures, including homes, have been destroyed by the Cottonwood Fire, a human-caused blaze which is just 4% contained.At least 12 other fires are simultaneously burning across Utah, including two major blazes, the Snyder Fire near the Colorado border and the Babylon Fire in San Juan County, which have each consumed over 30,000 acres and are both 0% contained.
Kelly Pehrson, commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture, said in a statement on Monday that one devastating result of the fires has been the loss of livestock.
Wildfires can change the course of a ranching operation in a matter of hours, but recovery often takes years," Pehrson said. "Our livestock producers are facing the loss of animals, grazing land, and the resources they depend on to sustain their operations."
The state Department of Agriculture said ranchers have reported that additional livestock remain missing or unaccounted for.
"Replacing livestock requires significant financial investment and time. Raising replacement cattle takes approximately three years before they become productive, and cattle prices for replacement livestock are at record highs," the Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
Even before the recent wildfires ignited, Utah cattle ranchers were reeling from a record drought that has hit the state, drying out thousands of acres of grazing land, officials said.
"Lost grazing land results in producers relying on replacement feed, which is in short supply and at a high cost due to historic drought conditions," according to the Department of Agriculture.
As cattle ranchers scrambled to round up and move their herds out of harm's way, ranchers like Tom Memmott of Scipio, Utah, said they're facing a crisis.
Memmott told ABC Salt Lake City affiliate station KTVX that much of his pastureland has been left blackened by the Wild Goose Fire, which started on Friday and as of Tuesday morning had burned 11,145 acres. The fire is 7% contained, according to Utah Fire Info.
"It's taken a lot of our pasture that we needed for the summer, and probably some of us are going to have to sell some cows or find another place to put our cattle," Memmott said.
Meanwhile, Memmott said he and his family have been instructed by local authorities to prepare to evacuate their home at any moment.
"It's scary to have to evacuate, leave your home and leave the things that you know and where you’ve lived all your life," Memmott told KTVX. "And we’ll probably just have a lot of memories if something happens."
Dangerous fire weather is forecast to continue across Utah on Tuesday and red flag warnings remain in place across the state as well as parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming and Nebraska.
Wind gusts of up to 40 mph are forecast across the fire-danger zones, and relative humidity is expected to fall between 8% and 15%, meaning conditions are ripe for any new fires to rapidly spread.