The U.S. Interior Department released a report Thursday detailing the findings of an in-depth investigation into how a wildfire in western Colorado took the lives of an Arizona firefighter and three of his crewmates earlier this year.
The interagency investigation examined how Nick Hutcherson, who is from Glendale, Arizona, and four other wildland firefighters were overtaken by the Knowles Fire on June 27 and looked at ways to avoid future tragedies in similar situations. Only one of the crewmembers survived.
“While there is nothing on this earth that can eliminate the profound loss and severe grief that their families, crewmembers and the whole Interior family feels from their loss, we honor them by better understanding the circumstances of this fire and searching for every modern technological improvement to better support our firefighters,” Deputy Interior Secretary Kate MacGregor said in a news release. “That is a priority for the department, and this report will help inform that work.”…