Utah Firefighter, Wife and Three Sons Killed in Flash Flood, Daughter Alone Survives

A family hiking trip in a southern Utah canyon ended in one of the deadliest flash floods to hit the region in recent memory, killing five members of a single family in a matter of hours.

Provo Fire & Rescue Captain Spencer Long, 59, his wife Katrina, and their three sons, Gage, Reid, and Thayne, died Friday after flash floods swept through a canyon near Sunglow Campground outside Bicknell, Utah, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. The campground sits in a steep box canyon at roughly 7,200 feet elevation near Capitol Reef National Park.

According to KUTV, the family arrived in the area around 11:30 a.m. Friday to go hiking and canyoneering. Heavy thunderstorms then dumped large amounts of rain on the area in a short window, triggering the flooding, Wayne County officials said.

Deputies were dispatched to Sunglow Campground around 5 p.m. Friday after a young male victim was found dead in a wash, FOX 10 Phoenix reported, citing Wayne County officials. Search crews then found two more male victims dead that evening. The bodies of Captain Long and two of his sons were recovered Friday, according to KSL-TV.

The remaining two family members, believed to be Katrina Long and one of the sons, were found dead around noon Saturday, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, confirming all five victims had been accounted for.

The couple's daughter, Lydia, was not on the trip and is the family's sole survivor, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up by a family friend. The fundraiser says her "life has forever been changed in an instant."

A Firefighter and Community Leader Lost

Captain Long served with Provo Fire & Rescue and was a member of the Provo Firefighters Union. On Saturday morning, the union's wildland rapid extraction team was pulled off a wildfire response in Blanding to assist in the search for their colleague's family, according to an Instagram post from the union.

Provo Fire & Rescue changed its Facebook profile photo to include a black mourning band before officially confirming the deaths Saturday evening.

"We are absolutely heartbroken by the death of Captain Spencer Long and his family," the department said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. Out of respect for the family and the ongoing official process, we will not be commenting further at this time."

Katrina Long was a cofounder of Summit Medical Spa and a former councilmember for Mona City. The city paid tribute to her, telling ABC4, "Katrina dedicated countless hours of service to our community, and her kindness, leadership, and commitment made a lasting impact on so many lives. We will forever be grateful for all that Katrina and her family have done to support and strengthen our community."

Community Response

The GoFundMe campaign set up to cover funeral costs and help Lydia rebuild her life surpassed its $100,000 goal within a day of launching, reflecting the scale of community grief over the loss.

An Old Danger in a Popular Landscape

Flash flooding is a well-known hazard in Utah's slot canyons and washes. Narrow terrain and steep walls can turn a distant thunderstorm into a wall of water within minutes, often with little warning at ground level. The Long family's deaths come the same season flash flooding also killed two people in the Texas Hill Country, according to FOX 10 Phoenix, underscoring how sudden and lethal these events have been across multiple states this summer.

Wayne County officials said heavy rainfall was the most likely contributing factor in the family's deaths, though the sheriff's office has not released a detailed timeline of exactly how the group became trapped in the canyon or whether any flood warnings were issued for the area before the storm hit.

That remains an open question as the investigation continues. Provo Fire & Rescue has said it will not comment further while the official process plays out, and no additional details on the specific circumstances of the canyoneering trip have been released as of Saturday.