Firefighter seriously injured by falling tree in Little Twist fire

BEAVER — A firefighter was seriously injured Sunday while working to contain a major blaze, now known as the Little Twist Fire, near Beaver, firefighters said.

Kylee Stott, Little Twist public information officer, said the firefighter was a member of the Utah-based Bonneville Hotshot Team. Stott said he was hit by a falling tree.

The Bureau of Land Management said the firefighter was transported by helicopter to a medical facility.

Daniel Burns is in his first year with the Bonnevile Hotshot crew and is in a southern Utah hospital after being injured over the weekend. He has a long recovery ahead of him.

KSL TV spoke with a renowned former firefighter who highlighted how difficult and dangerous the job can be.

“I've had my own near misses myself and it shakes you to your core and makes you rethink a lot of things,” Matthew Irving said.

Irving retired from being a talented firefighter, but he still considers it the men and women of these crews as family.

“I've had a few of my own near misses that I was lucky to walk away from, so when I saw that happen it kind of hit me and I think everything what we can do to help him and give him the support he needs is good,” he said.

The Bureau of Land Management said it was still early in its investigation.

“Our hearts go out to our teammate on his road to recovery,” a spokesperson said.

The fire, located four miles southeast of Beaver, is Utah's largest fire and has been burning for more than a week. As of Monday, the fire had grown to 2,398 acres and was only 10% contained.

The fire started as a planned burn in the Fishlake National Forest by the Beaver Ranger District. The fire spread outside the controlled burn boundaries and spread to isolated areas with rugged terrain.

More than 260 firefighters were working on the blaze Monday.

Stott said smoke from the fire will be visible for several weeks, including in areas of Interstate 15, Interstate 70, Highway 89 and Highway 20.

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Kiersten Nunez and Shara Park contributed to this story.

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