Deaths of 3 wildland firefighters underscores the risk to the ‘unsung heroes’ of wildfires | CNN

Everything changed in a matter of minutes. The wildland firefighters assigned to the Rifle County, Colorado, Helitack crew were among the first to arrive at the Knowles Fire Saturday, as the fast-moving blaze scorched the state’s western border. As the crew began initial operations to contain the fire, an order came over the radio that would chill even the most seasoned first responder: Within minutes, the crew was trapped by the flames and forced to deploy foil-lined emergency shelters, a catastrophic last line of defense. Three firefighters – Emily Barker, 38; Nick Hutcherson, 27; and Sydney Watson, 27 – died during the burnover, according to the US Department of Interior. Two others were injured and are receiving medical care. Barker and Hutcherson were firefighters with the Department of Agriculture’s US Forest Service. Watson was assigned to the US Wildland Fire Service Rifle Helitack. The tragedy marks the first deaths for the US Wildland Fire Service, the Department of Interior said – a grim milestone for the new federal agency, which launched in January to coordinate firefighting efforts on public land. The Wildland Fire Service and the Forest Service were working