Three US wildland firefighters killed near Colorado-Utah border as western fires surge

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Three wildland firefighters were killed and two others suffered burn injuries on Saturday while battling a fast-growing fire on the Colorado-Utah border, the US Wildland Fire Service said, as hot, dry and windy conditions drove the total number of uncontained large fires nationwide to 45.

The firefighters were overrun by advancing flames while responding to the Knowles and Gore fires in Mesa County, Colorado, in what the US Department of the Interior described as a burnover incident in which crews deployed emergency fire shelters, the department said in a statement. The two surviving firefighters were hospitalised with burn injuries, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Knowles and Gore fires subsequently merged with other blazes to form the Snyder Fire, the Department of the Interior said. The firefighters were from two federal agencies that oversee the management of public lands, the US Wildland Fire Service and the US Forest Service.

The wildland service, which is part of the US Department of the Interior, was established in January this year to streamline firefighting efforts across public lands. Colorado Governor Jared Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency Saturday and authorised the deployment of the National Guard to assist in firefighting efforts, Colorado Public Radio reported.

Taking to social media platform X, Governor Polis posted: "I'm devastated about the loss of three heroic firefighters who died in the line of duty in Western Colorado. The men and women who serve on the front lines of these fires risk their lives to keep us safe and to protect the lands and communities we love. To the loved ones of those lost, and to their fellow crew members - some who are still battling the flames - know that the State of Colorado mourns alongside you."

"The State is working closely with the Bureau of Land Management and local officials and firefighters to deploy any and all resources needed to fight these fires, including the Colorado National Guard, and to recover the three firefighters who were lost," he added.

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