From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Two firefighters were injured Thursday when they parachuted into a wildfire in northeast Utah.
The injuries are not believed to be life threatening but the firefighters’ exact condition or specific injuries were not immediately released. Doug Brice, a supervisory forester with U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, said the smoke jumpers were hurt on impact.
The blaze, called the Little Water Fire, is burning about 2 1/2 miles northeast of the town of Whiterocks on the Uintah and Ouray reservation. The fire is 15 acres and is not threatening any homes or structures. Brice said eight smoke jumpers from Boise were dispatched because the fire is burning in a hard-to reach area. Air tankers, fire engines and ground crews also are helping fight the blaze.
UPDATE @ 1:54 MT, July 23
From the Deseret News:
An unexpected wind gust during a parachute jump into a wildfire has injured two members of an elite, eight-person smoke-jumper team.
Don Smurthwaite, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, said one of the men suffered a hairline fracture of the pelvis during a hard landing Wednesday night. He was evacuated by medical helicopter to a hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.
“No medical procedures are planned,” Smurthwaite said.
The second firefighter was treated for “bumps and bruises” at an area hospital and released, Smurthwaite said, putting the injuries in the “rare category.”
