DOE declares power emergency as record heat hits the East; Utah's Cottonwood Fire nears 93,000 acres; Kentucky recovers from deadly flooding

A record-challenging heat wave drives a federal power emergency for the PJM grid across 13 states, while wildfires push the national preparedness level to 4 with large, fast-moving fires forcing evacuations in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, and Alaska. Kentucky continues recovery after deadly flash flooding, and precautionary boil-water advisories affect communities in Missouri and South Carolina. 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• Power grid: DOE emergency order lets PJM plants run at maximum output as record heat threatens the grid’s all-time summer peak on July 2; conserve energy and use cooling centers.• Wildfires: National preparedness level 4 with 54 uncontained large fires; Utah’s Cottonwood Fire (about 92,820 acres, 4 percent contained) may be the state’s most destructive on record.• Colorado: Aspen Acres Fire near 28,300 acres with about 155 structures lost; Rye, Beulah, and San Isabel evacuated under a state disaster declaration.• Kentucky flooding: Four dead and at least 63 water rescues; statewide emergency and 26 local declarations remain as extreme heat complicates recovery.• Lifelines: Precautionary boil-water advisories in St. Louis, Missouri and West Columbia, South Carolina; heat-driven outages in the Detroit area.• Volcano: Kilauea is not erupting at ADVISORY level; USGS forecasts the next fountaining episode between July 6 and 10.SponsorsThe NIMS Store - https://thenimsstore.com/Descript, Edit video by editing text - https://link.bcolburn.com/DB-DescriptSourcesHeat and Power Grid• U.S. heatwave to test power grid (Al Jazeera): DOE PJM emergency order and record demand• Emergency ordered for largest U.S. power grid (Bloomberg): PJM power emergency• NOAA WPC Hazards: excessive heat and rainfall outlookWildfires (NIFC and InciWeb)• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report (IMSR)• NIFC daily situation report (PDF)• NIFC Fire Information: national preparedness level and fire totalsVolcano (USGS)• USGS Kilauea volcano updates• USGS HVO volcano notice (June 30, 2026)Tropics (NHC)• National Hurricane Center Graphical Tropical Weather OutlookAlaska• NIFC IMSR: Starry Fire near AndersonArizona• Arizona Emergency Information Network: emergency bulletins• NIFC IMSR: Pocket, Steamboat, and Sycamore firesColorado• KKTV: Aspen Acres Fire tops 28,000 acres, structures lost• Colorado Public Radio: Beulah evacuations, Aspen Acres FireHawaii• USGS HVO: Kilauea status and next fountaining forecastKentucky• ABC News: 4 dead in Kentucky flooding, statewide emergency• LEX18: Beshear statewide state of emergency and local declarationsMichigan• ClickOnDetroit: extreme heat strains DTE grid, outages in Detroit areaMissouri• City of St. Louis: precautionary boil-water advisory (June 30, 2026)Nevada• NIFC IMSR: Grapevine Fire, Lincoln CountyNew Mexico• NIFC IMSR: Canyon Venado Fire near Clines CornersNew York• Gothamist: NYC heat wave and cooling measuresNorth Carolina and Tennessee• ABC News: flooding deaths and impacts across Kentucky, Tennessee, and North CarolinaOregon• PBS NewsHour: heat, wind, and drought spark western wildfiresSouth Carolina• City of West Columbia: boil-water advisory (June 30, 2026)Utah• ABC4: Cottonwood Fire, Beaver County evacuations and containment• KSL: estimated 150 structures destroyed by Cottonwood Fire• Fox 13: Rocky Mountain Power de-energizes lines, prolonged outage warningWashington• NIFC IMSR: Lyle Hill Fire near The Dalles