Cottonwood Fire Updates And What To Do Before July Fourth

The biggest story in Utah right now is fire, and it’s changing how all of us should think about summer. We break down the latest on the Cottonwood Fire near Beaver, now stretching across an area that puts it in the conversation with the most significant wildfires in Utah history. You’ll hear the real-world impacts, from closures and evacuations to the early estimate of structures lost, plus why officials say this wasn’t a surprise after an exceptionally dry winter and low snowpack.

We also get into a moment that should be a statewide public service announcement: a private drone flight over the fire area reportedly forced crews to ground helicopters. That’s not a minor inconvenience, it’s a safety issue that can cost property and lives. If you’re planning weekend trips, we talk about what to avoid, how to stay flexible with smoke and changing conditions, and why backyard fireworks are a bad bet this year.

Then we shift gears to sports and momentum. Utah Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong makes a move that signals the rebuild is over by acquiring Vincent Trocheck, a proven two-way center with face-off strength, penalty-kill value, and championship-level experience. We dig into what it means for the roster, the young core, and why expectations should rise heading into the October opener.

Finally, we share a surprisingly moving engineering update from Temple Square: the Salt Lake Temple’s seismic base isolation system is complete, letting the building move during a major earthquake while reducing damage from ground shaking. We wrap with a quick July Fourth weekend guide, World Cup watch party vibes across the valley, and a preview of our upcoming conversation with Natural History Museum of Utah executive director Jason Cryon. If this helps you, subscribe, share the show, and leave a review so more people around Salt Lake City can find it.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:30

What is up, everybody, and welcome back to the Small Lake City Podcast. I'm your host, Eric Nielsen, and let's go through the weekly update, especially before 4th of July weekend. It's coming up in two days, and we're gonna get into what to do and what to avoid and where to go. But we have to start with the fires because the Cottonwood fire down near Beaver has become one of the most significant wildfires in Utah history. And it's not done yet. We've also got a massive Utah Mammoth offseason update because Bill Armstrong made a move this week that signals this team is done rebuilding. And we've got a beautiful story about the Salt Lake Temple that's worth taking a minute on, regardless of where you land on faith. So let's get into it. But before we do, if you missed last week's episode, go listen to my conversation with Eli McCann, lawyer, writer, humor colonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, creator of Strangerville, and genuinely one of the funniest people in the city. We talked about his new book, We're Thankful for the Moisture, A Gay Guy's Guide to the Mormon Faith, Family, and Fruit Preservation, and his upcoming novel, Stitched, dropping in September. It's a conversation that'll make you laugh and then make you think. So go check it out. Alright, the Cottonwood Fire. What started on June 22nd in Fish Lake National Forest east of Beaver has now grown to nearly 94,000 acres, making it, as of this week, the largest active wildfire in the United States, and it's only 19% contained. For context, 94,000 acres is larger than the entire city of Salt Lake

Welcome And Week Preview

SPEAKER_00 3:01

City. Over 1,200 fire personnel are currently assigned to the incident. Mandatory level three, quote, go evacuation orders remain in fact for Hilo Estates, Merchant Valley, Eagle Point Resort, and Arrowhead Summer Homes. State Route 153 is closed in both directions, and the entire Fish Lake National Forest remains under closure. Preliminary estimates say approximately 150 structures have been lost. And while that includes some smaller outbuildings, it also includes full homes and cabins. Eagle Point Resort announced that it will be closed for a considerable amount of time to recover from the damage. Beaver City has canceled all 4th of July celebrations as well. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. What fire officials have made clear is that this outcome was not a surprise. Utah just wrapped one of the driest winters on record, with historically low snowpack and vegetation in some southern regions at the driest point in a century. And there's a detail from the weekend that puts this in sharp focus. A private drone operator flew over the fire area, and Beaver County Sheriff said it forced them to ground all helicopter operations. They could cost somebody a

Cottonwood Fire Growth And Safety

SPEAKER_00 4:10

cabin, the sheriff said. They could cost a firefighter their life. So if you're thinking about heading out there to get footage, please don't. The Great Basin region, which covers Utah, Nevada, Southern Idaho, and western Wyoming, is currently one of the most active wildfire zones in the country. Fire season is expected to continue through at least October. The Cottonwood Fire is the story of the summer 2026 in this state, and we'll keep following it. Okay, this is a big week for the Mammoth, and I want to take a few minutes on it, because what happened on July 1st changes how we think about this team heading into next season. NHL Free Agency opened on Tuesday, and Utah's general manager Bill Armstrong played it smart. While other GMs were going wild in the first few hours, Armstrong held back, waiting for the frenzy to settle, and then made his move. The headline acquisition, Vincent Trochek, center acquired via trade from the New York Rangers. Trochek is 32 years old, right-handed, and one of the best two-way centers in the league. He scored 16 goals and 53 points in 67 games last season, goes nearly 57% in the face-off circle, and kills penalties. He also won Olympic gold with Mammoth Captain Clayton Keller back in February. Interestingly, the Mammoth were actually on Trochek's no trade list last year. He didn't want to come to Utah. But his list went from 12 teams down to 10 when the new season started on July 1st and Utah was no longer on it. Armstrong moved immediately. We have Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, T. G. Ginlaw, a legit young core. Now Trochek and Lee give us experienced winning players to fill the gaps around them. This team is expected to contend. The Mammoths regular season opens in October. After the offseason they've had, this is a team that should be making serious noise in the Western Conference this year. This one is a quick story, but it's a good one. And it's genuinely impressive engineering, regardless of where you sit on the faith stuff.

Utah Mammoth Make A Win-Now Move

SPEAKER_00 6:06

After two decades of planning and more than six years of construction, the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has officially reached a massive milestone. The seismic base isolation system is complete. Here's what that means in plain terms. Workers placed 98 base isolators, enormous mechanical devices 20 feet below the foundation of the temple. Each one is engineers to carry over 8 million pounds. Together, the system allows the temple to move up to five feet in any horizontal direction during a major earthquake, isolating the building above from the ground shaking below. The construction superintendent put it simply: the temple is set free. This week, crews removed over 1,500 bolts connecting the stabilizing plates to the isolators, the plates that had locked the system in place during installation. With those gone, the temple is live on its new foundation. The historic oak doors were reinstalled on the east side the week before, carpet is now installed in the celestial room, chandeliers are up, the project is reportedly more than 90% complete. The Salt Lake Temple celebration, open to the public for the first time in its 173-year history, is scheduled from April 5th through October 1st, 2027. Volunteer applications are open now through July 15th at templesquare.org. Whatever your relationship with the church, the Salt Lake Temple is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in the Intermountain West. And what they just pulled off underneath

Salt Lake Temple Earthquake Engineering

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is a remarkable feat of engineering. Definitely worth knowing about. The Salt Lake Bees are home Friday. First pitch at 7.05 p.m. at America First Square in South Jordan with fireworks after the show. And if you want to go big, Provo Stadium of Fire at Lavelle Edwards Stadium is headlined by Rascal Flats with a massive drone and fireworks finale. Next, Twilight Concert Series kicks off in 11 days, July 13th. Old Crow Medicine Show at the Galvan Center downtown. Tickets at 24Ticks.com slash Twilight, then Freddie Gibbs on the 27th, Suki Waterhouse on the 27th, and more through October. So go get your tickets. Third, the Days of 47 Rodeo is back at the Utah State Fair Park July 21st through the 25th. Five nights of rodeo, live music, and a drone and fireworks show every night. One of the great summer traditions in the city, and if you've never been, this is the year. Fourth, the World Cup is definitely happening. Team USA beat Bosnia 2-0 to advance to the round of 16, and Salt Lake City in Utah are feeling it. The Latino community here has been turning out in force for watch parties across the valley. Sandy's watch party this week drew hundreds. The World Cup runs through the final on July 19th. If you want to watch a match somewhere with Real Energy, find your nearest watch party. The city's been alive for it. Alright, so this week I'm sitting down with Jason Cryon, the executive director from the Natural History Museum of Utah, right here in Salt Lake City. And if you've been to the Natural History Museum, you know it's one of the best museums in the country. Generally world-class dinosaur collections, incredible exhibits on the Great Basin,

July Fourth Events And Tickets

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the geology of Utah. Jason runs all of it. We're going to talk about what it means to steward that kind of institution and why natural history matters more now than maybe any other moment in our lifetime. So that's the past week, Salt Lake. Happy Fourth of July. Enjoy the shows, stay safe in the smoke, and leave the backyard fireworks in the box this year. Seriously. Make sure to follow at Small Lake Pod on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and wherever you can. And make sure to join the Discord channel to know what's going on and join the Small Lake City community. Have a good weekend.