Firefighter seriously injured by fallen tree in Little Twist fire
Jun 24, 2024, 5:31 PM | Updated: Jul 1, 2024, 2:00 pm
BEAVER — A firefighter was seriously injured Sunday while working to contain a large fire, known now as the Little Twist fire near Beaver, fire officials said.
The Little Twist Public Information Officer, Kylee Stott said the firefighter is a member of the Bonneville Hotshot crew that is based in Utah. He was identified later as Daniel Burns.
Stott said he was hit by a falling tree and was flown to a Southern Utah hospital in a helicopter shortly after. He has a long recovery ahead of him, officials said.
Burns is in his first year with the Bonnevile Hotshot crew.
A former hotshot firefighter, Matthew Irving, weighed in, highlighting how difficult and dangerous the job can be.
“I’ve had my own near misses and it kind of shakes you to your core and makes you rethink a lot of things,” he said.
Irving retired from being a hotshot firefighter, but said he still views the men and women on those crews as family.
“I had some of my own near misses that I was lucky to walk away from so when I saw this come up it kinda hit home and I think anything we can do to get him help and get him support that he needs is good,” he said.
The Bureau of Land Management said it is still early in the investigation.
“Our thoughts are with our teammate on his road to healing,” a spokesperson stated.
The fire, located four miles southeast of Beaver, is the largest burning in Utah and has been burning for over a week. As of Monday, the fire had spread to 2,398 acres and was only 10% contained.
The fire began as a planned burn in the Fishlake National Forest by the Beaver Ranger District. The fire grew outside of the controlled burn limits and spread to remote areas with rugged terrain.
Over 260 firefighters were working on the fire as of Monday.
Stott said the smoke from the fire would be visible for several weeks following, including areas on Interstate 15, Interstate 70, Highway 89 and Highway 20.
Burns has an active *GoFundMe that was coordinated by some of his crewmates.
Contributing: Kiersten Nunez and Shara Park, KSL TV
*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.