A South Dakota wildland firefighter was killed and four others were injured after they were caught in a burnover Thursday afternoon, according to The Rapid City Journal.
The firefighters were battling the Coal Canyon Fire when winds from a storm system pushed the fire into the area they were operating in.
Firefighter Trampus Haskvitz succumbed to his injuries and firefighters Austin Whitney and Kevin Fees were airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital.
Whitney suffered burns to his arms and third-degree burns to his hands and neck and has been transferred to a burn center in Greeley, Colo. Kevin Fees suffered minor burns to the back of his hands and neck and has since been released.
Haskvitz, Whitney and Fees are seasonal employees of the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division.
Two U.S. Forest Service firefighters were also treated for injuries at the hospital and released.
"Trampus died a hero doing what he loved to do, and he will be sorely missed by the Black Hills firefighting community," Director of the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division Joe Lowe told the newspaper.
The lightning-sparked fire occurred about nine miles north of Edgemont, S.D. on U.S. Forest Service land and has burned approximately 100 acres.
