A wildfire sparked south of Scipio and west of U.S. Route 50 in Millard County on Thursday, forcing evacuations at Maple Grove Campground and the surrounding area as fire crews and aerial support rushed to the scene. Officials have not yet released the fire's acreage or containment level.
The Millard County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Maple Grove Campground and nearby areas were evacuated following the wildfire, according to ABC4 Utah. Fire crews were working the scene in Millard County while aerial assistance was en route to help battle the blaze. Officials asked the public to stay away from the area so that roads remain clear for emergency personnel.
This is not the first time this exact campground has been forced to empty this summer. Maple Grove Campground and the area south of Scipio were evacuated on June 26 when the lightning-caused Wild Goose Fire tore through more than 12,000 acres in the Pahvant Range and shut down U.S. Route 50, as Hoodline previously reported. That fire also triggered Level 3 evacuations for campers in the same stretch of forest, per KUTV 2News.
A Region Already Pushed to Its Limits
Millard County has borne an outsized share of Utah's brutal 2026 fire season. The lightning-sparked Widemouth 2 Fire, which ignited on July 27, burned more than 125,000 acres across Millard and Sevier counties, according to Gephardt Daily. That blaze became one of the largest in the state this year and strained firefighting resources across the region for weeks.
The county's history with catastrophic fire runs even deeper. Millard is home to the largest wildfire in Utah's recorded history, the July 2007 Milford Flat Fire, which scorched 363,052 acres across Millard and Beaver counties after a lightning strike, according to KSL.com. That 2007 fire forced extended closures of Interstate 15 and destroyed multiple structures.
The Widemouth 2 response also turned deadly for aviation crews. An August 7 crash of a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane helicopter in Fishlake National Forest killed both pilots on board while the aircraft was delivering water drops in rising terrain, KSL.com reported, citing preliminary NTSB findings. The tragedy underscores the operational hazards facing aerial firefighting teams deployed to central Utah this year.
A Record-Setting, Mostly Human-Caused Season
Statewide, 838 wildfires had burned more than 532,000 acres by August 12, surpassing the combined total acreage burned over the previous five years, according to KDXU. Human activity accounted for 51% of those fires, burning over 155,000 acres, based on data from the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands cited by the same outlet. Officials have not said what sparked Thursday's fire near Maple Grove.
The Utah Fire Sense program, which promotes prevention tactics the state says can stop roughly 70% of wildfires, recommends burning only in permitted areas, clearing dry grass and other hazards before shooting, parking, or building a campfire, and completely dousing any campfire before leaving it. The program has also urged residents to monitor current weather conditions and statewide fire restrictions. Experts separately advise checking vehicles for potential ignition sources, including ensuring trailer chains do not drag on roads, checking brakes and tires for excessive wear, and confirming vehicles are not prone to sparking or overheating.
New Infrastructure Meets Old Terrain
In response to extreme regional fire activity, the U.S. Forest Service issued an emergency closure order in August restricting public entry into designated lands, roads, and trails within Fishlake National Forest's Fillmore Ranger District. Despite the scale of this year's fires, wildland firefighters across Utah have still managed a 91% success rate in catching and stopping reported fires at 10 acres or smaller, according to KDXU's reporting on state data.
Utah opened a new State of Utah Wildland Fire Operations Center in May, housing elite Hotshot crews and specialized engine units to coordinate wildland responses statewide, replacing a 50-year-old base in Draper. For now, officials in Millard County are focused on the fire burning south of Scipio, with no word yet on how large it has grown or when evacuated campers might be allowed to return.
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