Today’s brief leads with the Western wildfire siege, with NIFC holding the country at Preparedness Level 3 amid Red Flag and critical fire weather across the Intermountain West, the Four Corners, and Interior Alaska, plus building heat across the South and West. In Utah, the Iron Fire near Eureka tops 37,000 acres with mandatory evacuations still in place. In New Mexico, the McCauley Springs Fire forces evacuations and a highway closure in the Jemez while the Canyon Venado Fire briefly shut eastbound I-40. We cover California’s Red Flag prepositioning and a Garden Grove hazmat evacuation, Arizona’s Pocket Fire near Sedona, Florida boil water notices, the central U.S. severe weather threat, and CISA’s addition of four known exploited vulnerabilities. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.

Key Takeaways

• National wildfire posture: NIFC holds the U.S. at Preparedness Level 3 with 32 large uncontained fires and more than 6,200 personnel committed; YTD acres burned run above the ten-year average.

• Fire weather and heat: Red Flag and critical fire weather span the Intermountain West, Four Corners, and Interior Alaska, with dangerous heat building across the South and West into the weekend.

• Utah, Iron Fire: Now 37,172 acres at 17 percent containment; mandatory evacuations remain for Eureka and Chimney Rock Pass, with residents expected to return Thursday.

• New Mexico, two active fires: McCauley Springs Fire (~150 acres, 0 percent) drives Jemez evacuations, an electric shutoff, and a Highway 4 closure; the Canyon Venado Fire (~852 acres, 0 percent) showed extreme behavior and briefly closed eastbound I-40, now reopened.

• California, prepositioning and hazmat: Cal OES prepositions engines, tenders, a helicopter, and 100-plus personnel across six Sacramento Valley counties; Garden Grove reissues precautionary evacuations for a hazmat incident.

• Arizona, Pocket Fire: Oak Creek Canyon downgraded from GO to SET north of Sedona, with restricted resident-only access.

• Florida, water lifelines: Precautionary boil water notices in Deltona (Volusia County) and Bradenton (Manatee County) after water-main breaks.

• Cyber, CISA KEV: Four vulnerabilities added June 23 (Lantronix EDS5000 and three Ubiquiti UniFi OS flaws); organizations should prioritize remediation.

• Severe weather: Damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, large hail, and flooding possible across the central U.S. and Mid-Atlantic into the Mid-South.

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Sources

NIFC / Wildfire (National)

• NIFC National Fire News: daily large-fire counts, new starts, personnel, and YTD totals

• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report, June 23, 2026 (0730 MDT)

NWS / Weather

• National Weather Service: national forecast, severe weather, heat, and fire weather

• NWS Weather Prediction Center

NHC / Tropics

• National Hurricane Center: Atlantic and Eastern Pacific tropical outlooks

CISA

• CISA Adds Four Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog, June 23, 2026

• CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog

DHS

• DHS National Terrorism Advisory System

Alaska

• Alaska Wildland Fire Information: Anderson evacuation and Interior fire starts

• Alaska’s News Source: Critical fire danger grips Alaska (June 23, 2026)

Arizona

• City of Sedona: Oak Creek Canyon evacuation status changes from GO to SET for the Pocket Fire (June 23, 2026)

• Arizona Emergency Information Network: Pocket Fire update, Oak Creek Canyon decreased to SET status

California

• Cal OES: Governor Newsom predeploys fire and rescue personnel to six Sacramento Valley counties ahead of Red Flag fire weather

• City of Garden Grove: Hazardous Materials Incident

Florida

• Volusia County / City of Deltona: Precautionary boil water notice for Deltona utility customers

• Manatee County: Precautionary boil water notice, June 23, 2026 (Bradenton)

New Mexico

• NM Fire Info: New fire start in Jemez Ranger District (McCauley Springs Fire)

• Source New Mexico: McCauley Springs Fire prompts evacuation orders, electric shutoff

• NM Fire Info: Canyon Venado Fire, Torrance County update

• Albuquerque Journal: Jemez Springs evacuations, Torrance County blaze impacts I-40

Utah

• Gephardt Daily: Iron Fire tops 37K acres, now 17% contained, evacuations remain in place

• KUTV: Iron Fire expands to over 37,000 acres, reaches 17% containment