July 25 (Reuters) – The U.S. Interior Department said on Saturday that a fourth wildland firefighter has died from injuries sustained while responding to the Knowles Fire last month in western Colorado.
The agency identified him as Nathan Matthews, a 43-year-old from Lincoln, Nebraska. Here are some details:
• Three firefighters died when fire overran their position on June 27 southwest of Loma, Colorado. Matthews was one of those wounded in the blaze.
• The burnover, when a fire overtakes wildland firefighters, was the deadliest such incident since the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona, when 19 firefighters died.
• Wildland firefighters specialize in fighting fires in natural areas such as forests or grasslands.
• The United States is facing a worse-than-average year for wildfires after the lowest snowpack on record in the U.S. West exacerbated drought conditions that fuel blazes.
• U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz told Congress on Wednesday his agency is pursuing a “full suppression” strategy of containing all fires while they are still small rather than letting some naturally ignited blazes burn for ecological benefits.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay and Raphael SatterEditing by Rod Nickel)
