| On Saturday June 27 2026, a group of five federal wildland firefighters assigned to the Rifle Helitack Base were trapped in a rapidly deteriorating burnover situation while fighting a wildfire along the Utah/Colorado border in Mesa County CO. Helitack crews are similar to smoke jumpers except they deploy via helicopter instead of parachutes. These crews are trained to land near fires or rappel from hovering helicopters to access areas that are difficult to reach by ground vehicles.
All five firefighters attempted to deploy their protective shelters to survive the intense heat when confronted by the rapidly developing fire front. Two were seriously burned but survived. Unfortunately, the other three succumbed to thermal burns and died on the spot.
The incident was widely reported over the weekend, but announcement of names was delayed pending notification of next of kin. This having been accomplished, we can now sadly report that the following firefighters paid the ultimate price in protecting the community and natural resources:
Emily Barker, age 38, US Forest Service
Nick Hutcherson, age 27, US Forest Service
Sydney Watson, age 26, US Bureau of Land Management
TSFRS would like to express our deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of these brave individuals. We stand with them in grief and support.
We'd also like to extend our thoughts and prayers for recovery of those injured. |
