Three US firefighters were killed and two sustained burn injuries when they were overcome by flames from fast-moving wildfires in hot, windy conditions near the Colorado-Utah border.
The firefighters deployed emergency shelters for themselves during the so-called burnover — which occurs when a fire spreads and closes off all escape routes — on Saturday in Mesa County, Colorado, the interior department said.
They worked for the US Wildland Fire Service and US Forest Service and were part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires, which merged with other fires to form the Snyder Fire. So far, about 44 square miles (114 square kilometres) have burned.
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The Wildland Fire Service, created earlier this year to streamline firefighting and fire reduction across public lands, said in a statement that it “stands united” with the Forest Service in grief and “in our unwavering support for the loved ones left behind”.
“Their bravery, dedication, and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” the statement said.
The names of the firefighters who died were being withheld pending notifications to their loved ones, the department said.
Temperatures in Grand Junction — east of the fire — hit a high of 34C, with winds gusting to 44mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office was asking people to evacuate the potential path of the fire and to turn on irrigation water to saturate the land. The federal Bureau of Land Management closed public access to lands it manages nearby.
“Firefighter and public safety are the highest priority,” the agency said in a statement.
“The temporary closing of the lands is to reduce exposure to hazardous situations due to the rapid rates of spread and fire behaviour that the fire has exhibited. The public is to remain clear of these closed lands.”
Wildfire activity has intensified across the western United States, as consecutive days of hot, dry and windy weather have fuelled flames in Utah, Arizona and elsewhere as new fires popped up across the region.
The largest blaze, the Cottonwood Fire, was burning in rugged terrain in south-west Utah.
It ballooned on Saturday to more than 144 square miles (373 square kilometres) after marching through canyons and mountainsides, destroying part of a ski resort and other summer cabins along the way.
Authorities in Beaver County began working with fire teams on Saturday to assess the extent of the damage, but no estimates were immediately available.
Governor Spencer Cox in a post on social media called it bleak, but he thanked crews for what he called “several miraculous stops and saves”.
Hundreds of firefighters have been arriving in the arid state to battle new starts as well as those that have been growing because of what forecasters called critical fire weather — dangerously low humidity levels, warm temperatures and gusty winds.
The danger is even higher this year because of Utah’s record-low snowpack and its warmest winter on record.
Much of the west of the country is grappling with similar conditions, according to the National Interagency Fire Centre.
Some 12 fires were burning in Utah, including four that were new. None were contained by late afternoon on Sunday.
Nationally, nearly 4,688 square miles (12,142 square kilometres) have burned since the start of the year.
That is more than the 10-year average.
Some dozen fully or largely uncontained wildfires were burning across the desert south-west on Sunday, according to Forest Service data, including in Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona.
Their area totalled nearly 469 square miles (1,214 square kilometres).
