Updated

Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 25

Knowles Fire Claims 4th Firefighter, Killing Nathan Matthews, 43, Weeks After 30,000-Acre Blaze

Updated

Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 25

Knowles Fire Claims 4th Firefighter, Killing Nathan Matthews, 43, Weeks After 30,000-Acre Blaze

Q: What fatal miscalculation during the Knowles Fire led to a highly trained helitack crew being trapped with no escape route?

The fatal miscalculation appears to have been committing the Rifle Helitack crew to initial attack in Knowles Canyon under fire conditions that changed faster than expected, leaving them without a viable escape route when winds shifted and the fire made a sudden run. What is publicly established so far is that the crew was flown in to help check the rapidly growing Knowles Fire, and then a burnover occurred when erratic winds and extreme fire behavior cut off their exit. Officials and reporting from the scene indicate the firefighters died because they had “no escape route” after the flames overtook their position. They deployed emergency fire shelters, but the fire intensity was too great. There is not yet an official final finding identifying a single tactical error, because a serious accident investigation is still underway. But the central issue described in available accounts is that the fire’s speed, wind-driven change in direction, and the canyon terrain appear to have been underestimated or outpaced the crew’s ability to withdraw. In practical terms, the likely misjudgment was believing the crew could safely engage the fire from that location and still retain a usable route to safety. When conditions shifted, that assumption collapsed, trapping even a highly trained helitack team.

3 articles · Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 25

Nathan Matthews, 43, died July 24 from burn injuries suffered on June 27, becoming the fourth firefighter killed in the Knowles wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said Matthews was on the Rifle Helitack crew and among five firefighters caught in a burnover during initial attack operations.
Three firefighters — Emily Barker, 38, Nick Hutcherson, 27, and Sydney Watson, 27 — died at the scene, while Matthews had remained under treatment until his death.
The Knowles fire later merged with nearby blazes into the Snyder fire and was fully contained after burning nearly 30,000 acres.