Helicopter was unable to rescue firefighters in deadly Colorado wildfire due to heavy smoke, report finds

<img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw – 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="495019" data-permalink="https://coloradosun.com/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecoflight-cosun-071626-003-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"9","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D850","caption":"Burn scar cuts through the landscape from the Snyder Fire in western Colorado near Grand Junction on Thursday, July 16, 2026. The Snyder Fire overtook the Knowles and Gore fires. Three firefighters died while responding to the Knowles Fire. (Kelsey Brunner/Colorado Sun)","created_timestamp":"1784209083","copyright":"Kelsey Brunner 2026","focal_length":"35","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"0","alt":""}" data-image-title="ecoflight-cosun-071626-003" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Burn scar cuts through the landscape from the Snyder fire in western Colorado near Grand Junction on Thursday, July 16, 2026. The Snyder fire overtook the Knowles and Gore fires. Four firefighters died while responding to the Knowles Fire. (Kelsey Brunner, Special to The Colorado Sun via EcoFlight)

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The report provides the most detailed public account yet of the events leading up to the tragedy that killed 4 firefighters in western Colorado as an investigation continues