By Bill Carey
28 June 2026
MESA COUNTY, Colo. — The U.S. Department of the Interior reported today that on Saturday, 27 June, three federal firefighters were killed and two were injured while battling a wildfire.
The firefighters were involved in a burnover incident resulting in shelter deployments. Their identities are being withheld pending notifications.
The firefighters were assigned to the Knowles and Gore fires near the Colorado-Utah border when the incident occurred. The Knowles Fire is one of six fires in the Snyder Mesa that are combined and are referred to as the Snyder Mesa Fire. The wildfire has burned at least 28,000 acres, according to the Colorado governor’s office.
The Daily Sentinel reported the firefighters had become trapped in a remote area near Knowles Canyon.
This is the largest multiple fatality wildland LODD incident that did not involve a vehicle or aircraft crash since 2013, when 19 firefighters were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona, according to data from the United States Fire Administration.
Their deaths will raise the total number of LODDs for 2026 to 37.
Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service/Facebook.
Data Not Drama 