Western-Wildfires

Firefighter tents sit across an elementary school lawn with the Cottonwood Fire in the background, in Beaver, Utah on Saturday, June 27, 2026.

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3 firefighters killed in Colorado as wildfires stoked by heat, wind rage across the West

3 firefighters killed in Colorado as wildfires stoked by heat, wind rage across the West

Three firefighters have died and two were injured while battling fires on the Colorado-Utah border. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service says they were responding to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday. Wildfire activity has intensified across the Western U.S. due to hot, dry, and windy weather. The largest blaze, the Cottonwood Fire, has grown to over 146 square miles in southwest Utah. Utah's governor declared an emergency earlier this week, and Colorado's governor on Saturday followed suit and authorized the National Guard to help. Conditions have been critical, with record-low snowpack and extreme drought fueling the fires.