The Rocky Canyon Fire in Morgan County exploded to more than 13,000 acres Sunday, Aug. 9, with mandatory evacuations ordered for homes roughly 30 miles northeast of Draper as 40 mph winds pushed the blaze toward Henefer and I-84.

The fire remains 0% contained.

Morgan County Emergency Management issued a GO evacuation order Sunday morning for all homes and structures from Whites Crossing to East Canyon Dam. Utah Fire Info posted the order at 10:36 a.m., directing residents to leave immediately with documents, medications, go-bags, vehicles and animals.

A shelter opened at the MHS Trojan Century Center, 699 E. Young St. in Morgan. Large animals can be taken to the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

By Sunday afternoon, conditions deteriorated sharply. The fire spotted across S.R. 65 in two places and pushed east and southeast toward the I-80/I-84 junction, according to Utah Fire Info's afternoon update. A second GO order covered residences between Hog Back Summit and West Henefer Road, and a second shelter opened at the Henefer LDS Chapel, 709 N. Main St.

"The weather conditions have not been favorable this afternoon and the fire has expanded and jumped our lines on the Summit County side," Morgan County Emergency Management said Sunday afternoon, according to the Park Record. "Air and ground crews are working tirelessly to establish a new line with a strong focus on structure protection."

What Draper residents should know

The fire is burning in Morgan and Summit counties, not in Draper. As of Sunday afternoon, no evacuation orders or air quality advisories had been issued for Draper, according to available emergency management notices. No confirmed smoke impacts for the Draper area have been reported.

Draper sits within Utah's high-risk wildland-urban interface zone, with portions of the city identified among approximately 60,000 high-risk structures statewide on the state's WUI risk map. As we reported Aug. 5, Unified Fire Authority officials urged Draper households to have fire safety plans ready as Utah's 2026 wildfire season has burned more than 380,000 acres statewide.

Fire details

The Rocky Canyon Fire started Friday, Aug. 7, off Highway 66 near East Canyon Reservoir. Officials said it was human-caused. About 120 firefighting personnel were on scene Sunday morning, with a Type 3 incident command team scheduled to take over. Resources include air tankers, helicopters, engine crews, hand crews and bulldozers.

Crews conducted a back burn operation along Highway 66 to strengthen the fire line ahead of the afternoon heat. East Canyon Reservoir is closed to all boating while helicopter water operations continue, and the fire area is a no-drone zone.

Officials asked the public not to call 911 for fire updates and to stay away from the fire area. Draper residents can sign up for local emergency alerts through Notify Draper on the city's website.