By Bill Carey
26 July 2026
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on 24 July the death of firefighter Nathan Matthews, 43, of the Wildland Fire Service, due to injuries he sustained while battling the Knowles Fire – part of the larger Snyder Fire – in Colorado on 27 June.
Matthews was one of five firefighters assigned to the Rifle Helitack crew who were caught in a burnover during initial attack operations.
Firefighters Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson were killed in the burnover.
The incident is still under investigation.
The Knowles Fire burnover is the largest loss of life, outside of aviation and vehicle crashes, the wildland fire service has experienced since the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona in 2013 that killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
Photo of the burned area on the east side of the Snyder Fire on 5 July 2026/InciWeb.
Data Not Drama 