Wildfires in the American West kill three elite federal firefighters

Three elite federal firefighters died Saturday during an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires along the Colorado-Utah border, and two more crew members were injured and taken to a hospital. Officials identified the dead as Emily Barker, 38, of Michigan, Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Arizona, and Sydney Watson, 27, of Alabama. The crew tried to deploy emergency shelters before flames overtook them.

Their deaths came almost 13 years to the day after the Yarnell Hill disaster in Arizona, when 19 firefighters died in similar circumstances. The fallen crew members were part of a specialized wildland team sent into remote terrain to attack fires as they start or quickly intensify.

The Cottonwood Fire started Monday, June 22, near Cottonwood Campground in Fishlake National Forest near Beaver, Utah, and had burned more than 61,000 acres by June 24 while remaining 0% contained. By June 25, it had grown to roughly 70,000 acres, still with no containment, and by the weekend it had reached nearly 94,000 acres. The blaze burned through Fishlake National Forest and pushed into Piute and Beaver counties, forcing evacuations at Eagle Point Resort, Merchant Valley, HiLo Estates and Arrowhead Summer Homes. Eagle Point Resort was also damaged.

Gov. Spencer Cox said there was a “very good chance” the Cottonwood Fire was already the most destructive fire in Utah history, later calling it the most destructive wildfire in the state’s recorded history. He said there was “no end in sight” as winds and extraordinarily dry trees drove extreme fire behavior. The National Weather Service issued Utah’s first-ever formal “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning.

Utah declared a state of emergency and temporarily restricted most fireworks statewide through July 5, 2026, ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. A governor’s office count put 354 fires burning 141,743 acres in Utah as of June 25, with at least 75% attributed to human activity. The U.S. Drought Monitor showed every part of the state in drought, with 94% in severe drought or worse and 39% in extreme to exceptional drought.