Federal wildland fire officials have released the identities of three firefighters who were killed Saturday while responding to a massive wind-driven wildfire along the Colorado-Utah border.
Emily Barker, 38, of Michigan, Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Arizona, and Sydney Watson, 27, of Alabama, were assigned to the Rifle Helitack crew and were engaged in initial attack operations when they died, the U.S. Forest Service said Monday.
The fire in western Colorado — part of the Snyder fire that started with the Knowles and Gore fires near the Colorado-Utah border — also injured two firefighters. Both are still receiving care, officials said.
As of Monday, the Snyder fire was estimated at 28,000 acres.
“We mourn the loss of three firefighters who answered the call to protect others and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their fellow citizens,” U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with their families, loved ones, friends and crewmates as they face an unimaginable loss. These firefighters embodied the courage, professionalism and selflessness that define the wildland fire service.”
The firefighters deployed their emergency protective shelters as fire overtook their position. Recovery teams were unable to reach the three who were killed Saturday because of dangerous winds.
They were retrieved Sunday morning and transported by helicopter to the airport in Grand Junction. Dozens of firefighters from local and federal teams were waiting there, ready to escort Mesa County coroner’s vehicles driven by the same people who accompanied the bodies in the helicopter.
At Community Hospital in Grand Junction, crewmembers from the Rifle Fire Department accompanied the bodies into the coroner’s office.
A “serious accident investigation team” is reviewing the circumstances around their deaths, officials said.
At least 29 firefighters have died in Colorado battling wildfires, including five pilots and five members of Western Colorado helitack crews.
- 1976 Garfield County — A B-26 air tanker fighting the Battlement Creek fire near Parachute crashed on July 16, 1976, killing the pilot, Donald Goodman. On July 17, members of the Mormon Lake Hotshots crew were trapped by flames in the fire, killing three and injuring one.
- 1986 Delta County — A helicopter carrying a helitack team based in Montrose responding to a fire call that turned out to be a false alarm crashed east of Delta on Aug. 5, 1986. Three firefighters and the pilot were killed when the helicopter clipped overheard power lines.
- 1991 Routt County — A 23-year-old firefighter was killed when he was struck by a falling branch as he worked a fire in the Routt National Forest near Yampa on Sept. 19, 1991.
- 1992 Garfield County — A 43-year-old firefighter suffered a heart attack as he worked a grass fire near Glenwood Springs on June 29, 1992.
- 1994 Garfield County — The South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain killed 14 wildland firefighters, including two crew members of a helitack team based in Grand Junction on July 6, 1994.
- 2002 La Plata County — An Oregon sawyer was killed by a falling tree near Vallecito Reservoir outside Durango on July 2, 2022 during the Missionary Ridge Fire.
- 2002 Larimer County — Two pilots died when the wing tore off their 1945 air tanker southeast of Estes Park while carrying flame retardant for the Big Elk Fire on July 18, 2002.
- 2021 Yuma County — A 67-year-old volunteer firefighter was killed Oct. 26, 2021, after being trapped by a grass fire.
- 2021 Larimer County — The 59-year-old pilot of a single-engine tanker died in a crash while fighting the Kruger Rock Fire near Estes Park on Nov. 16, 2021.
This is a developing story that will be updated.