3 firefighters killed battling wildfire near Colorado-Utah state line

Blistering heat and strong winds stoked wildfires across the West after three firefighters were killed a day earlier in Colorado while battling a blaze along the state's border with Utah.

The National Weather Service said wildfire conditions “remain critical” across the Southwest, with risk high in the Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah intersect. The agency warned of “extreme fire behavior” along the Utah-Colorado border, where “rapid fire growth is likely.”

The firefighters were killed and two sustained burn injuries when they were overcome Saturday by flames from fast-moving fires. They deployed emergency protective shelters during the so-called burnover — which occurs when a fire spreads and closes off all escape routes — in Mesa County, the U.S. Interior Department said.

They worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. 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 kilometers) have burned.

The Wildland Fire Service, created earlier this year to streamline firefighting on 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.”

The names of the firefighters were withheld pending notification to their loved ones, the Interior Department said.