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Two Utah Fires Spur Campus Shelter-In-Place, 1,000 Evacuations

6/21/2026

39 3 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

University of Utah placed its campus under a shelter-in-place order, kept its hospital open for walk-in patients, and put ambulances in divert mode, sending patients elsewhere.
The Bonneville Fire near Red Butte Canyon burned about 200 acres and the Iron Fire near Eureka burned 13,000 acres.
Officials evacuated about 1,000 Eureka residents to LDS shelters in Elberta and Goshen and banned drones over the canyon to protect firefighting.

History

Historical Context

The August 20-21 1910 Great Fire in Idaho and Montana burned about three million acres, killed 86 people, and prompted President Taft to send 4,000 troops, including Buffalo Soldiers, to assist the five-year-old U.S. Forest Service. The disaster drove the agency’s aggressive fire-suppression policies, which still shape Utah’s 2024 wildfire evacuations and hospital diversions.

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Story summary

University of Utah placed its campus under a shelter-in-place order, kept its hospital open for walk-in patients, and put ambulances in divert mode, sending patients elsewhere.
The Bonneville Fire near Red Butte Canyon burned about 200 acres and the Iron Fire near Eureka burned 13,000 acres.
Officials evacuated about 1,000 Eureka residents to LDS shelters in Elberta and Goshen and banned drones over the canyon to protect firefighting.

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