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4th firefighter dies from burn injuries battling Colorado’s Knowles wildfire

▶ Watch Video: Crews rush to contain raging wildfires forcing evacuations in western states

A fourth firefighter died from burn injuries battling Colorado’s Knowles wildfire in the western part of the state at the end of June.

Nathan Matthews, 43, of Lincoln, Nebraska, died from injuries sustained while battling the blaze, the U.S. Department of the Interior said in a statement. 

“This is another heartbreaking loss for our wildland fire family,” said U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy, referring to the three firefighters who died responding to the Knowles blaze. Fast-moving flames and gusty winds created unpredictable conditions for the firefighters. 

Five firefighters were involved in a burnover — when a fire spreads rapidly and closes off escape routes — while engaged in initial attack operations on the Knowles Fire. The fire sparked near Knowles Canyon in Mesa County and was later overtaken by the Snyder Fire, which started in Utah and rapidly spread across the Colorado border.

synder-fire-1-us-wildland-fire-service.jpg
The Snyder Fire is burning along the Colorado-Utah border.

U.S. Wildland Fire Service

The Department of the Interior said the fire is known as the Snyder Fire and has burned over 28,000 acres along the Colorado-Utah border. 

Emily Barker, 38, Nick Hutcherson, 27, and Sydney Watson, 27, were assigned to the Rifle Helitack crew and engaged in initial attack operations, officials said. They died at the scene. 

“We mourn the loss of Nate while continuing to grieve the deaths of Emily, Nick and Sydney. Our hearts are with their families, friends, crewmates and everyone impacted by this tragedy,” Fennessy said. 

Matthews had been receiving medical care for his burns. The name of the fifth firefighter has not been released.

“We remain committed to supporting those affected and honoring the legacy of all four firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation,” Fennessy said. 

Trump administration admits it canceled clean-energy grants in states that voted for Kamala Harris

(CNN) — Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration of abusing its power after officials admitted in a federal court filing they recommended terminating several billion dollars in grants for clean-energy projects based “solely” on states’ “political identity” and whether President Donald Trump won the vote there in the 2024 election.In a July 15 filing that is part of a class action lawsuit seeking to overturn the decision, officials said the Energy Department sent to the Office of Management and Budget a list of more than 600 grants it recommended be canceled from recipients in states where former Vice President Kamala Harris won the vote, and that have two senators that caucus with Democrats. Ultimately, the Office of Management and Budget terminated 284 grants in October 2025.The move is in line with Trump’s broader second-term push to seek retribution against a range of perceived political opponents – and with his aggressive efforts to stymie federal funding in Democratic-led states. Earlier this year, the administration tried to freeze $10 billion in funding for social services from five blue states before dropping that effort.In February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released more than $5 billion in long-delayed disaster aid to states, but left out several Democratic-led states where Trump had clashed with governors. The Department of Homeland Security denied politics played a role in the decision.Those developments came during the height of an unprecedented effort by OMB Director Russell Vought to exert new authority and power over the federal spending process — a push that rapidly accelerated in the wake of sweeping fraud allegations in Minnesota late last year.The revelation of the administration’s move to cut grants in states where Harris won the electoral votes was first reported by the New York Times. The plaintiffs in the case, a group of University of California researchers, argue the Trump administration targeted federal grants for termination based on political reasons.In the July 15 filing, the DOE said it “accepts that the inclusion of grants in the October notice tranche was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state, i.e., whether the recipient’s location and/or place of performance was in a Blue State or a non-Blue State.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, called DOE’s admission “unprecedented Trumpism and something we should never become numb to.”“Trump admits he’s ripping the rug out from under hardworking families so he can get revenge on the Americans who didn’t vote for him. It’s sick and deranged,” Schumer wrote on X. “His ego is so fragile, he’ll punish families already struggling to put food on the table for a little bit of vengeance.”Maryland US Rep. Jamie Raskin said the Trump administration’s actions are a “deep betrayal of America,” adding that the funds should be restored to blue states immediately.“This mass partisan retribution is appalling, outrageous, dangerous, lawless, unconstitutional, unpatriotic and a massive offense against the Republic,” Raskin wrote on X. “Trump knew how important these Biden-era grants were to the American people, which is why he did not cut them off to the red states, but did cut them off to the blue states.”Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, Democrats who sit on the appropriations committee in their respective chambers, said in a joint statement Friday, “This is an astounding admission that the President and his team corruptly abused their power to kill good jobs and punish hard-working families because of their political views.”“Weaponizing the Federal government like this is outright un-American,” the lawmakers added.CNN has reached out to the White House, Energy Department, Office of Management and Budget and Justice Department for comment.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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