Three firefighters killed as fires rage in western US
Three firefighters died and two others were injured while battling fires along the Colorado-Utah border, the U.S. Wildland Fire Department reported.
Agency? Created earlier this year to facilitate firefighting and fire mitigation on public lands? He said firefighters were part of the interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday.
“The U.S. Wildland Fire Department stands together with the USDA Forest Service in our unwavering support for our loved ones who are grieving and left behind,” he said in a statement on Facebook Sunday.
“Their courage, dedication and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Wildfires are ravaging the western United States as a succession of hot, dry and windy weather fuels flames in Utah, Arizona and elsewhere, while new fires emerge across the region.
The largest blaze, the Cottonwood Fire, was burning in rugged terrain in southwestern Utah.
It rose to nearly 400 km2 on Saturday after moving through canyons and mountain slopes, destroying part of a ski resort and other summer lodges along the way.
Officials in Beaver County began working with fire crews Saturday to assess the extent of damage, but no estimates were available at this time.
Fire department spokeswoman Alyssa Mason said rocks and steep slopes made the job even more difficult.
“It’s hard to get dozers and other heavy equipment into that. It’s hard to get engines into that,” he said.
“It doesn’t make firefighting impossible, but it does slow things down a little bit.”
Hundreds of firefighters are arriving in the arid region to battle growing fires as well as new starts due to dangerously low humidity levels, high temperatures and high winds in what forecasters call critical fire weather.
The danger is even higher this year due to Utah’s record low snowpack and warmest winter on record.
Much of the West is grappling with similar conditions, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Crews worked Saturday to contain dozens of fires from Alaska to Florida; These included three dozen large and uncontrollable fires.
Since the beginning of the year, 1.2 million hectares of land have burned across the country. This is a figure above the 10-year average.
Conditions in Utah were critical enough for Gov. Spencer Cox to declare an emergency earlier this week, clearing the way for the state to ban fireworks ahead of the July 4 holiday.
This order comes as Utah is experiencing one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent history, fueled by historic drought conditions.
Utah has seen an increase in wildfires over the past week, with each fire showing unprecedented behavior, state officials said. State Forester Jamie Barnes said these starts expand the state’s wildfire-fighting capabilities.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service have been issuing red flag warnings for a wide swath of the West in recent days, from California to Arizona to New Mexico.
South of Grand Canyon National Park, officials said flames from a new wildfire on Saturday were moving away from Grand Canyon Village and the nearby community of Tusayan.
But another fire about 50 miles away prompted Coconino County officials to issue an evacuation order for residents near Kendrick Mountain.
Parts of northern Arizona experienced a power outage on Saturday as the utility serving the area implemented safety precautions in hopes of reducing the risk of wildfire.
