Everything changed in a matter of minutes.
The wildland firefighters assigned to the Rifle County, Colorado, Helitack crew were among the first to arrive at the Knowles Fire Saturday, as the fast-moving blaze scorched the state’s western border.
As the crew began initial operations to contain the fire, an order came over the radio that would chill even the most seasoned first responder:
“Get out of there now.”
Within minutes, the crew was trapped by the flames and forced to deploy foil-lined emergency shelters, a catastrophic last line of defense.
