The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty deaths of Firefighter Will Hawkins, 22, and Jacob O’Malley, 27, of the Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office on July 10, 2016.
While investigating lightning strikes in the area, two firefighters were killed and one firefighter was injured when, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol, the fire department vehicle they were traveling in on Nevada State Route 140 (near Denio, Nevada) had a tire failure and overturned. Firefighters Jacob O’Malley, the vehicle operator, and Will Hawkins died from injuries sustained in the crash.
The condition of the third firefighter, Zachary McElroy, who was flown to the Renown Regional Medical Center, was reported as having been stabilized with non-life-threatening injuries. The vehicle crash remains under investigation by authorities.
Tribute is being paid to Firefighters Hawkins and O’Malley at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 36 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2016. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/fatalityData/statistics
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
