Three firefighters were killed and two others were hurt while battling wildfires along the Colorado-Utah border, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service said Sunday.
The agency, established earlier this year to better coordinate firefighting and fire-prevention work on public lands, said the firefighters were assisting in a multiagency response Saturday to the Knowles and Gore fires.
“The U.S. Wildland Fire Service stands united with the USDA Forest Service in grief and in our unwavering support for the loved ones left behind. Their bravery, dedication, and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” the agency wrote in a Facebook statement.
Officials said additional details would be provided once they are cleared for release.
Wildfire conditions have worsened across much of the western U.S., where a stretch of hot, dry and windy weather has helped drive flames in Utah, Arizona and other areas as new fires continue to emerge across the region.
The biggest of the fires, the Cottonwood Fire, was burning across difficult backcountry in southwestern Utah. By Saturday, it had expanded to more than 144 square miles (373 square kilometers), pushing through canyons and over mountainsides while damaging part of a ski resort and destroying summer cabins in its path.
In Beaver County, officials began coordinating with fire crews Saturday to determine how much damage had been done, though no immediate estimate was available. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described the situation in a social media post as bleak, while also thanking firefighters for what he called “several miraculous stops and saves.”
Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson assigned to the incident, said cliffs and steep terrain have further complicated firefighting efforts.
“It’s hard to get dozers and other heavy equipment into that. It’s hard to get engines into that,” she said. “It doesn’t make it impossible to firefight, but it does just kind of slow things down.”
Hundreds of firefighters have been arriving in the arid state to battle new starts as well as those that have been growing because of what forecasters called critical fire weather — dangerously low humidity levels, warm temperatures and gusty winds.
The danger is even higher this year because of Utah’s record-low snowpack and its warmest winter on record. Much of the West is grappling with similar conditions, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
From Alaska to Florida, crews worked Saturday to corral dozens of fires, including three dozen that were classified as large and uncontained.
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Nationally, nearly 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) have burned since the start of the year. That is more than the 10-year average.
The conditions in Utah were critical enough for Gov. Spencer Cox to declare an emergency earlier this week and clear the way for the state to ban fireworks ahead of the July Fourth holiday. The order comes as Utah is experiencing one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent history, fueled by historic drought conditions.
State officials said that over the past week, Utah has seen an increase in wildfire starts, with each fire showing unprecedented behavior. These starts have stretched the state’s wildland firefighting capabilities, State Forester Jamie Barnes said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also declared an emergency on Saturday, and authorized the use of the National Guard to tackle the fires.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service over recent days have been issuing red flag warnings for a wide swath of the West, from California to Arizona and New Mexico.
South of Grand Canyon National Park, authorities said the flames of a new wildfire were moving away from Grand Canyon Village and the nearby community of Tusayan on Saturday. But about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, another fire prompted Coconino County officials to issue evacuation orders for those near Kendrick Mountain.
Parts of northern Arizona were without power Saturday as the utility serving the area initiated a safety shut-off in hopes of lessening the wildfire risk.
Power shutoffs have become more common in the West as wildfire risk has expanded. It is usually a last resort after utility forecasters weigh factors like sustained wind and gust speeds, available fuels and topography.
With extreme fire conditions persisting in Utah, Rocky Mountain Power also shut off power lines serving Beaver County and other areas.
