SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) \u2014 Three firefighters were killed, and two others were injured while responding to wildfires along the Utah-Colorado border.<\/p>\n
The firefighters were killed on Saturday while fighting the Knowles and Gore fires, according to the U.S. Wildland Fire Service.<\/p>\n
Officials said two others were seriously injured and transported to a hospital.<\/p>\n
“Our immediate focus is on supporting their families, friends, and fellow crewmates during this incredibly difficult time,” officials said. “Their bravery, dedication, and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”<\/p>\n
Western Slope Fire officials said the five victims were locally based federal firefighters who were caught in a burnover incident in Mesa County, Colorado. Officials said the firefighters did deploy their emergency shelters.<\/p>\n
The firefighters’ identities have not yet been released.<\/p>\n
Gov. Spencer Cox posted a statement, saying he and First Lady Abby Cox are praying for their loved ones.<\/p>\n
“Today, we mourn three heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice protecting lives and communities along the Utah-Colorado border. Please join Abby and me in praying for their loved ones, those who were injured, and every firefighter still on the line,” Cox said.<\/p>\n
The Knowles and Gore fires are burning on the Colorado side of the border across from the now-merged Jones and Snyder Fires<\/a>, which ignited in Grand County, Utah, on Saturday. Officials with the Bureau of Land Management said it appears all the fires have merged into one, but are awaiting confirmation.<\/p>\n The fires have burned 28,000 acres along the border, threatening structures in Mesa County. The area is under pre-evacuation orders<\/a>, and several roads have been closed.<\/p>\n These are the first reported casualties in connection with Utah wildfires, as multiple large wildfires burn across the state.<\/p>\n The Cottonwood Fire is the largest in the nation<\/a>, mapped at over 92,000 acres in size in Beaver and Piute Counties. The Iron Fire and the Cherry Fire<\/a> are the next largest in the state at over 30,000 and 40,000 acres, respectively. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) \u2014 Three firefighters were killed, and two others were injured while responding to wildfires…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-731235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}