Updated

Updated · The Denver Post · Jul 25

Colorado Burnover Death Toll Rises to 4 as 30,202-Acre Snyder Fire Nears Full Containment

Updated

Updated · The Denver Post · Jul 25

Colorado Burnover Death Toll Rises to 4 as 30,202-Acre Snyder Fire Nears Full Containment

Q: What fatal miscalculation during the Knowles Fire led to a highly trained helitack crew being trapped with no escape route?

The fatal miscalculation appears to have been committing the Rifle Helitack crew to initial attack in Knowles Canyon under fire conditions that changed faster than expected, leaving them without a viable escape route when winds shifted and the fire made a sudden run. What is publicly established so far is that the crew was flown in to help check the rapidly growing Knowles Fire, and then a burnover occurred when erratic winds and extreme fire behavior cut off their exit. Officials and reporting from the scene indicate the firefighters died because they had “no escape route” after the flames overtook their position. They deployed emergency fire shelters, but the fire intensity was too great. There is not yet an official final finding identifying a single tactical error, because a serious accident investigation is still underway. But the central issue described in available accounts is that the fire’s speed, wind-driven change in direction, and the canyon terrain appear to have been underestimated or outpaced the crew’s ability to withdraw. In practical terms, the likely misjudgment was believing the crew could safely engage the fire from that location and still retain a usable route to safety. When conditions shifted, that assumption collapsed, trapping even a highly trained helitack team.

3 articles · Updated · The Denver Post · Jul 25

Nathan Matthews, 43, died Friday nearly a month after suffering burn injuries in a June 27 wildfire burnover on Colorado’s Western Slope, becoming the fourth firefighter killed in the incident.
Rapidly spreading flames trapped Matthews and four Rifle Helitack crewmates after Utah’s Jones and Snyder Mesa fires merged and overran the Knowles and Gore fires near the Colorado-Utah line.
All five firefighters deployed fire shelters; Emily Barker, 38, Nick Hutcherson, 27, and Sydney Watson, 27, died at the scene, while the condition of the fifth injured firefighter was not immediately available.
The Snyder fire covered 30,202 acres and was 98% contained as of Saturday, while Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags flown at half-staff on the day of Matthews’ memorial.