Wildfire anxiety mounts amid fast-moving blazes and repeat evacuations

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Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Europe's Heatwave continues, across Romania, Serbia and Croatia 00:56 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% 00:00 02:01 02:01 More Videos 00:56 Europe's Heatwave continues, across Romania, Serbia and Croatia 00:52 AP Top Stories July 3 01:59 AP/NORC poll: Who flies the US flag, who won’t and what it signals about America 01:00 AP top stories July 1 01:06 AP top stories June 29 00:59 AP Top Stories July 1 01:31 Zendaya spins style gold across Europe 00:56 Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries plunge Russia into a summer fuel crisis Close Residents across a number of states are facing uncertainty as Wildfires spread across the West. (AP Video: Aya Diab) By Jessica Hill and Dorany Pineda Updated 3:00 PM MESZ, July 3, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Late last month, Anitra Cornish could see smoke coming from over the hill by her home in Eureka, Utah. Once she started seeing flames from the raging Iron Fire, she told her 86-year-old aunt that it was time to pack up and leave. They returned home after five days, only to be evacuated again about 24 hours later. She described it as a frustrating and stressful week. “We almost lost our home the first time,” Cornish said. “You’re just wondering, with the second time, are they gonna save it again?” Cornish is among thousands across the West facing uncertainty as Wildfires spread, fueled by months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter in some places. Some residents have evacuated, wondering if they’d have a home to return to. Others are prepared to leave if fires change directions rapidly. Firefighters’ friends and relatives worry for their safety, while some are mourning the loss of firefighters who died fighting back the blaze. The stress is expected to linger, with the dry conditions threatening a destructive fire season. “Right now we’re set up for extreme fire behavior,” said Jennifer Balch, a fire scientist and geography professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Fire shelters are a key defense for firefighters. But they don’t guarantee survival 4 MIN READ Wildfires scorch southern France as heat and drought fuel blazes 1 MIN READ Fire breaks out in hospital in northern Germany, leaving 2 dead, report says 1 MIN READ More than 9,000 personnel have been working this week to contain blazes around the country, including more than 50 large fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Last weekend, three firefighters were killed in a wildfire along the Colorado-Utah border. Evacuations have been ordered in Arizona, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. A woman uses a hose to wet down grass around the Mountain Shadows Mobile Estates in hopes of keeping the Aspen Acres fire from reaching homes in the mobile home park near Beulah, Colo., on Monday, June 29, 2026. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP) Chantelle Geyer was prepared to evacuate Sunday night as smoke from the Gold Mountain fire billowed over the mountain by her house in Ouray, Colorado. By Monday, the fire was moving away from the town, but officials told everyone to be prepared to leave if conditions changed again. Geyer’s 19-year-old daughter has been a “nervous wreck” and thinks they should all leave, while her 8-year-old son did not want to go to sleep Sunday, she said. “You just don’t know what the fire is going to do while you’re sleeping,” Geyer said. Her family recently moved to Colorado from South Africa and are still settling in, she said. “The thought of potentially losing that and have to start over for the second time in a year, is, yeah, it’s not a great feeling,” Geyer said. A firefighter watches as the Cottonwood Fire burns near Beaver, Utah, on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Sarah Brubeck Schnurbusch was nervous any time her best friend Emily Barker left to fight Wildfires. She’d ask Barker to text her once she returned to safety. Her anxiety rose if she didn’t hear from Barker for a couple of days. Barker was one of the three firefighters who died in the Colorado blaze. Brubeck Schnurbusch said Barker was so highly qualified that she was always confident her friend would be OK. “You just always knew Emily was going to come home, because she just always did,” Brubeck Schnurbusch said, adding: “She was just the most humble hero you’ve ever met, the most hardworking person.” Randy McClintock is immensely proud of his firefighter father, Steve, for risking his life to save others. His father is stationed near the Grapevine fire in Nevada — and still battling blazes at age 70. But the pride Randy feels is tempered by anxiety every time his father’s pager goes off. “He is probably one of the most selfless people I know, and he very often has to sacrifice time with his own family,” he said. “He’s my hero.” Colleen Estes kisses her cat on the head after getting evacuated from her home in Beulah, Colo., as the Aspen Acres Fire burns on Monday, June 29, 2026. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP) Joseph Armeanio watched helplessly through a remote camera as the Aspen Acres fire spread rapidly across his Colorado property. He hoped to return to save some things, but he couldn’t get there fast enough. “It’s kind of heartbreaking to recognize you’re not going to make it in time,” he said. Armeanio was building a house on land that also served as a family campground. He hasn’t been able to go back, but he assumes the property is a “total loss,” he said. Living in Colorado, wildfire concerns are a regular occurrence, and there’s only so much property owners can do to mitigate the risk, he said. “I really hope people learn to get out of the way,” Armeanio said. “If there’s any benefit from watching me lose everything, I hope it just wakes people up.” In Utah, Bret Van Leeuwen lost about three-fourths of the small ranch he co-owns to the fast-growing Cherry Fire. Even as smoke cut visibility, neighbors were helping cut wire fences on his ranch so cattle could escape, but at least six calves died. “As you drive across it, you can see the bloated bodies laying on the barren earth,” he said. Ranchers will spend the coming days sorting the cattle that have been found. Van Leeuwen is hopeful he will be able to rebuild, but some lost more. Ranches provide the only income for some neighbors. The Aspen Acres fire engulfs a hillside near Beulah, Colo., on Monday, June 29, 2026. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP) Psychologist Thomas Doherty suggests taking things one day at a time. “Just focus on the day to day, making sure you yourself, your family are fed, hydrated, safe,” or think about your evacuation plans and social support. “When you’re in a disaster, it will pass. These things do not last forever.” Global warming is also making these fires worse and more common, said Balch, the geography professor. “What’s happening with the larger picture of climate change is, it takes just a little bit of warming to lead to a lot more burning,” she said. “And fire is very responsive to that temperature increase.” Cornish was able to return home Sunday, and she was hopeful the fire would not come close again. But she is ready to leave just in case. The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment. Dorany Pineda Pineda writes about water, climate and the environment in Latino communities across the U.S. twitter mailto