Three wildland firefighters were killed and two more were injured in a fire near the Colorado-Utah state line on Saturday.
Crews are responding to dozens of wildfires in the Mountain West. Federal fire officials reported that over 270,000 acres of land is on fire in the region.
Here's what we know about the fires impacting the West and the thousands of firefighters working to contain them.
Firefighters killed during Week of Remembrance
The three firefighters who died of burn injuries were part of the Rifle Helitack crew responding to the Knowles Fire in western Colorado.
The firefighters have since been identified by the U.S. Department of the Interior:
- Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, Michigan
- Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Arizona
- Sydney Watson, 26, of Warrior, Alabama
Their deaths mark the first significant fireline tragedy of the 2026 wildfire season. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags in the state at half-mast.
"We are grateful, of course, to those we lost and those who they left behind and we're grateful for the firefighters that are on the front right now across Colorado, across Utah, across the entire United States, battling to protect lives and property," he said at a news conference on Monday.
Polis also declared a disaster emergency on Saturday, directing state resources, as well as the National Guard, to assist in operations.
Gov. Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency on Thursday, restricting fireworks displays ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
The deaths also come during the week of remembrance for the 19 firefighters killed in the Yarnell Fire in Arizona in 2013.
"We mourn the loss of three firefighters who answered the call to protect others and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their fellow citizens," U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said in a statement. "These firefighters embodied the courage, professionalism, and selflessness that define the wildland fire service."
As of Monday, the fire was estimated at over 30,000 acres along the Colorado-Utah border after the Snyder Fire merged with the Jones Fire, and then overtook the Knowles and Gore fires.
It was one of dozens of large fires burning across the region, prompting a response of thousands of firefighters.
Dozens of fires, thousands of firefighters
Inciweb, the wildfire mapping tool maintained by the National Interagency Coordination Center, showed 33 wildfires across Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah on Monday.
The Great Basin region, which includes almost all of Utah, most of Nevada, and parts of Arizona and Idaho, was at a Preparedness Level of 4 on Monday. That's up from Level 3 less than a week ago, along with the country as a whole.
The Preparedness Level scale goes from 1 to 5 and measures how active the season is, and how many resources are available to respond.
It's uncommon, although not unheard of, for the country to reach level 4 in June. The last time the country saw a June level 4 was in 2021. It also hit that level for multiple days in 2012 and 2008, as well as in 2002, when the country also reached level 5 in June of that year.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City issued what it described as a "particularly dangerous situation" red flag warning on Friday, the first time it has used that designation in its history.
The National Interagency Fire Center's daily situation report showed 3,408 personnel deployed to the Great Basin region, up 248 since Sunday, and about 43% of all wildland firefighters deployed across the United States.
The largest in the region is the Cottonwood Fire in southwest Utah Beaver. It was at over 93,000 acres Monday, up from 10,000 acres on Tuesday and up almost 2,000 acres since Sunday. It is currently the largest wildfire in the country.
Evacuations have been ordered and "numerous" structures and energy infrastructure are threatened, according to the center. Over 1,000 firefighters were on scene.
The Iron Fire and adjacent Cherry Fire in Juab and Tooele counties have burned a collective 75,000 acres between them, but their spread has slowed and containment has grown since they were first reported.
The Babylon Fire just north of Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah also exploded in its first few days to 38,000 acres. It threatens multiple structures and forced multiple road and trail closures in the area.
Fires in Colorado
In southern and west-central Colorado, multiple large fires were burning, in addition to the one that killed Barker, Hutcherson, and Watson.
Those include the Aspen Acres Fire, which have put Beulah, Rye, and San Isabel under evacuation notices near the border of Custer and Pueblo counties.
That fire is at about 22,782 acres as of Monday, but is just one of several in the state prompting large responses.
The Ferris Fire, 17,000 acres and about 7 miles east of Cahone, is showing "extreme fire behavior" and has prompted evacuations and road and trail closures in the area.
The Gold Mountain Fire, north of Ouray, has also exploded in size to over 8,000 acres, showing "extreme fire behavior." More than 100 firefighters were on scene as of Monday.
Evacuations have been ordered nearby and numerous homes and other structures are threatened, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Additional fires have sparked near Aspen, Cripple Creek, and Fruita.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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