Three firefighters died and two were injured while tackling fires on the Colorado-Utah border, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service reported Sunday. The agency — created earlier this year to streamline firefighting and fire reduction across public lands — said the firefighters had been part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday.

Wildfire Activity Intensifies

Wildfire activity has intensified across the western United States, as consecutive days of hot, dry and windy weather have fueled 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 southwest Utah.

The cliffs and steep slopes have made the job even harder, said Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson assigned to the fire. 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.

Nationally, nearly 3 million acres have burned since the start of the year. That is more than the 10-year average. The conditions in Utah were critical enough for Gov. Spencer Cox to declare an emergency earlier this week and clear the way for the state to ban fireworks ahead of the July Fourth holiday.

Original reporting: Oklahoma City News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.