Fourth firefighter dies after Colorado wildfire burnover near Utah border
A fourth firefighter has died after suffering severe burns when he and several fellow firefighters were overtaken by a fast-moving wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border last month, officials said Saturday.
Nathan Matthews, 43, died Friday, the federal Interior Department said in a release. He was from Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Matthews’ death came nearly a month after he and other firefighters were enveloped June 27 in what’s known as a burnover — a situation in which a fire spreads and closes off all escape routes. They were part of a Helitack crew — a group that gets dropped by helicopter into remote areas to try to squelch new, rapidly expanding fires — that had been deployed in Mesa County, Colorado, west of the city of Grand Junction.
Matthews and another were taken for medical treatment. There was no immediate update on the other injured firefighter’s condition.
Big picture view:
Firefighters were bracing Saturday for the possibility of worsening fires in Oregon, where a blaze near Bend was of particular concern because of its proximity to people.
Original source: https://www.livenowfox.com/weather
