Three firefighters were killed and two others were badly burned while battling wildfires along the Colorado-Utah border. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service stated the firefighters were part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires, including a 28,000-acre blaze. The victims—Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Arizona; and Sydney Watson, 26, of Warrior, Alabama—were members of a Helitack crew that deploys to remote areas to prevent new fires from growing. They were overcome by flames on Saturday after deploying emergency shelters.
The deaths highlight an escalating peril across the West, where prolonged droughts and a record lack of winter snow have fueled a harsh wildfire season. In southwest Utah, the Cottonwood Fire has expanded to more than 144 square miles, moving through rugged canyons and mountainsides. Due to the raging blazes, the governors of Utah and Colorado have both declared states of emergency. Utah Governor Spencer Cox expressed gratitude to the crews for several miraculous stops and saves.
Nationwide, more than two dozen large fires are burning, with about half in Alaska and the rest primarily in Western states. To date, wildfires have burned over 4,600 square miles, the highest total since 2022. Approximately 8,000 wildland firefighters and dozens of helicopters have been deployed to combat the blazes. The weekend's tragedy echoes an event from June 2013 near Yarnell, Arizona, where 19 members of a specialized firefighting crew were killed after trying to deploy emergency shelters.