06/28/2026
This is one of the darkest days the wildland fire community has seen in years.
The rapidly moving Knowles/Gore/Jones/Snyder Complex Fire near Fruita, Colorado has claimed the lives of three wildland firefighters, while two others were injured. Officials announced that the Jones and Snyder Mesa fires merged Saturday evening after explosive fire growth, burning more than 28,000 acres in a matter of hours.
From everything reported so far, this fire moved with incredible speed. Under hot, dry, and windy conditions, what began as separate fires quickly became a large, fast-moving complex. Incidents like this are a sobering reminder of just how quickly conditions can overwhelm even the most experienced crews.
Many people will immediately think of the 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain, where 14 wildland firefighters were killed just outside Glenwood Springs. While this tragedy is not on the same scale, any multiple-fatality entrapment in the wildland fire community is exceedingly rare and deeply felt. The lessons from Storm King have shaped generations of firefighters, yet the risks can never be completely eliminated.
Tonight, our thoughts are with the families, friends, and crews who lost their own, as well as the firefighters still working this incident under extremely dangerous conditions.
Rest easy.
