GRAND JUNCTION — Three federal firefighters were killed Saturday in Mesa County when a wind-driven wildfire trapped them.
The three deaths accompanied an explosive night of fire activity as high winds buffeted small, lightning-started wildfires in Utah. By morning, a merging of fires spanned more than 28,000 acres southwest of Fruita and Grand Junction. Farther south, wind-whipped fires erupted near Dolores and Ouray.
The burnover incident in western Colorado — part of the Snyder fire that started with the Knowles and Gore fires near the Colorado-Utah border — also injured two other firefighters. The firefighters with the Forest Service and U.S. Wildland Fire Service deployed their shelters as fire overtook their position. The two injured crew members were transported to a hospital for treatment.
The Interior Department and Forest Service, which reported the burnover incident shortly after midnight on Saturday, did not identify the people who were killed. The statement said the agencies were “focused on supporting the firefighters’ family, friends and colleagues.”
At the Grand Junction airport Sunday morning, officials solemnly transferred the flag-draped bodies of the three firefighters from a helicopter to Mesa County Coroner’s Office trucks as winds gusted across the tarmac. About a dozen mourning firefighters who helped recover the bodies stood watch as they were moved. A long procession of fire and rescue trucks and law enforcement vehicles followed the bodies from the airport to the coroner’s office at Community Hospital.
Gov. Jared Polis on Sunday morning said the two injured firefighters were evacuated by a Division of Fire Prevention and Control helicopter.
“The men and women who serve on the front lines of these fires risk their lives to keep us safe and to protect the lands and communities we love,” Polis said in a statement. “To the loved ones of those lost, and to their fellow crew members — some who are still battling the flames — know that the state of Colorado mourns alongside you.”
Gusting winds, low humidity make the firefights dangerous
Fires in eastern Utah combined with other fires in Colorado Saturday to form the Snyder fire as the flames moved quickly across drought-parched land west of Fruita and Grand Junction in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.
Polis on Saturday afternoon declared a disaster emergency and authorized Colorado National Guard support.
The National Weather Service in Grand Junction early Sunday issued a red flag warning that gusting winds up to 50 mph and low humidity were creating a dangerous situation for southwestern Colorado where “rapid wildfire spread will again be possible.”
All of southwestern Colorado is in a state of severe to extreme drought, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday.
“Extreme fire danger is expected. Fires will spread uncontrollably and could be very destructive,” a weather service warning said, urging residents near wildfires to assemble an emergency supply kit and learn evacuation routes. The warning is in effect until 10 p.m. Sunday, the weather service said.
Shortly after 9 a.m. on Sunday, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office extended a pre-evacuation order from the previous night to include areas south of the Colorado River near Glade Park all the way west to Pollock Canyons Estates south of Loma. The pre-evacuation order encouraged residents in the area to turn on irrigation “to saturate the land.”
By midmorning Sunday, the Bureau of Land Management said the Snyder Fire was estimated at more than 28,000 acres with 0% containment.
“Firefighters are evaluating conditions and determining the safest and most effective suppression tactics,” the BLM said in a statement, which noted a Complex Incident Management Team would take command of the fire by 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Gold Mountain fire
Shortly after noon on Sunday, Polis declared a disaster emergency for the Gold Mountain fire, which had burned an estimated 572 acres in steep, rugged terrain northwest of the town of Ouray, according to the governor’s office.
The fire, which ignited Saturday, led to evacuations of multiple neighborhoods, closed U.S. 550 through town and prompted the county to declare a state of emergency. The fire damaged a communications tower, which cut off most cell service in the area, the Ouray County Plaindealer reported.
An airplane and a helicopter were seen assisting in the fight Sunday, the newspaper reported, and fire officials said retardant drops were helping to slow the fire’s spread.
High winds Saturday had previously prevented aerial support from being used. Management of the fire is expected to be transferred to federal officials on Sunday, the local paper reported.
Polis’ declaration activates the Department of Public Safety, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control to support Ouray County’s emergency response and take responsibility for response, recovery and mitigation work on the fire.
The fire started on private land and its cause remains under investigation, officials said.
Ferris fire
The Ferris fire burning in Dolores and Montezuma counties has chewed through around 4,800 acres of land and led to the closure of campgrounds and day use areas. The Dolores County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that travelers will be turned back at the intersection of County Road 16 and County Road S and that Bradfield Bridge Recreational Site, Cabin Canyon Campground, Ferris Canyon Campground, Metaska Day Use Site, Orniston Road, Glade Road and Dolores River Corridor Road are closed until further notice.