Firefighter killed battling wildfire previously worked in eastern Idaho and was featured in EastIdahoNews.com story
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IDAHO FALLS — One of the firefighters killed in a wildfire on the Colorado-Utah border spent time training in eastern Idaho and was featured in an EastIdahoNews.com story.
Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, Michigan, was one of the three firefighters who died in the Snyder Fire over the weekend. She, along with Nick Hutcherson, 27, and Sydney Watson, 27, became caught in a “burnover incident,” a scenario in which firefighters are overtaken by a fast-moving blaze with no escape route or safety zone, according to the US Wildland Fire Service.
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Barker discovered firefighting while studying ski-area management in northern Michigan, The New York Times reported. She worked for the Vail ski resort during the wintertime and in summer months, she fought fires in Idaho, Colorado, Florida and the Carolinas.
Between 2018 and 2023, Barker worked as a local Bureau of Land Management engine captain stationed out of Dubois.
“She was the strongest, bravest person,” Barker’s sister, Lisa Karczewski, told the Times. “We were terrified when she first began, but as time went on, it became natural. It was, ‘I’m going into a fire.’ ‘OK, be safe.’ We knew this was always a risk.”
In May 2019, Barker visited Idaho Falls for Bureau of Land Management wildfire training at Ryder Park. The crew built a practice fire line that was converted into a bike path.
Normally, the firefighters would have gone to a backcountry spot to practice digging lines, but a trail designer arranged to practice at Ryder Park with the BLM.
RELATED | New firefighters practice skills and build bike paths at the same time
Barker was the fire school instructor and spoke with EastIdahoNews.com in an on-camera interview that you can watch in the video player above.
“I help teach S-130, which is an introduction to fire behavior. So I taught them about fire behavior, how it’s affected by typography, weather, and the fuels, and then yesterday, we did half a field day, and we did some work with hand tools, so they’ll be ready for today,” Barker said.
An investigation has been launched into the deaths of Barker, Hutcherson, and Watson. Officials say they were trying to shield themselves from the fire by deploying tent-like shelters, but were overcome by flames. Two other firefighters sustained burn injuries and were hospitalized in the Denver area.