Three firefighters were killed Saturday while battling two wildfires near the Colorado-Utah border, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service announced.

Emily Barker, 38, was from Michigan; Nick Hutcherson, 27, was from Arizona; and Sydney Watson, 26, was from Alabama.

Loved ones and friends started sharing tributes on social media, and FOX 13 News spoke to the loved ones of Emily Barker.

It all started when Sarah Brubeck was looking for a roommate in Colorado.

“Emily answered a random Craigslist ad,” Brubeck said. “We didn’t even know we had so much in common, so we had multiple hockey bags in our garage and multiple snowboards.”

Little did Brubeck know, she was getting a lot more than just a roommate.

“Grew to be more sisters than friends,” she said.

3 firefighters killed in wildfires

Just a couple of states over, Barker had touched the life of Kayla Lindsey.

“I met her when I was doing my interagency fire season with USFS and BLM Idaho,” she said. “You cannot see Emily and not want to talk to her.”

However, both friends’ worlds came crashing down when they heard the news that three firefighters did not make it while responding to the Knowles Fire along the Colorado-Utah border.

“One of our teammates was like, ‘Hey, Emily, let us know you’re safe,’ and she didn’t respond,” Brubeck said. “I just assumed she was out of service, and she would respond when she could, but she couldn’t.”

“I saw it first on Facebook,” Lindsey said. “I just kept reading it over and over, like, ‘That’s not the Emily Barker, I know that’s not my Emily.’”

Barker had died during a burn-over incident, something that hits close to home for Lindsey.

“I remember my first state fire, we pulled our shelters, and that’s never a good feeling. You never want to have to hear the words, ‘Get to your safety zone,’” she said. “I couldn’t imagine as strong as Emily was, how scared she must have felt when that happened, because that’s a terrible way to go.”

“She was more than life itself,” Lindsey added through tears. “She took so much interest in every person she met. She loved her job.”

While the world is getting to know Barker as a hero, her friends said it’s who she’s been all along.

“Showing up to house sit for free while we’re on our honeymoon or offering to carry someone’s hockey bag — she just gave of herself constantly,” Brubeck said.

“Didn’t matter how much she didn’t have in her cup, she always tried to fill everyone else’s,” Lindsey added. “I just wish we had more Emilys in the fire service.”

A wildland firefighter who knew the victims in Utah released the following statement:

“It’s times like these we’re reminded how truly dangerous our jobs are. Fire is the only natural disaster we ask men and women to stand in front of and stop. While we are often successful, sometimes the power of fire overtakes us, despite our best efforts and safest decision making. As we see so much criticism online about how we do our jobs, please remember our ultimate goal is to get every firefighter home safely. Saturday, we failed. The loss of Emily, Nick, and Sydney is burned in our souls. Our agencies and firefighters are hurting. We appreciate the public support now. And we hope that continues long after this has been forgotten for most of you. Because, for us, it is never forgotten. Every decision“It’s times like these we’re reminded how truly dangerous our jobs are. Fire is the only natural disaster we ask men and women to stand in front of and stop. While we are often successful, sometimes the power of fire overtakes us, despite our best efforts and safest decision making. As we see so much criticism online about how we do our jobs, please remember our ultimate goal is to get every firefighter home safely. Saturday, we failed. The loss of Emily, Nick, and Sydney is burned in our souls. Our agencies and firefighters are hurting. We appreciate the public support now. And we hope that continues long after this has been forgotten for most of you. Because, for us, it is never forgotten. Every decision, every pause in action, is because of a lost firefighter. To our fallen comrades… we’ll take it from here.”

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A part-time wildland firefighter is asking Utah leaders for more job protections after he said he was told he would lose his full-time job for accepting a call to respond to the Iron and Cherry fires.

Israel Justice has worked as a part-time wildland firefighter for 22 years. For the past seven years, he has also worked full time for an Ogden-based mechanical company.

Justice said his employer had previously accommodated the emergency nature of wildfire deployments, but that recently changed.

“This job requires, you know, last-minute, kind-of show-up-and-go,” Justice said. “They call you, and you have to leave immediately and respond to these incidents.”

MORE | Wildfire

Justice is currently assigned to the fire line. He said he does not know whether he will have a job to return to when his assignment ends.

“They were recently bought out by a larger corporation, and they’re not willing to work under the same terms we had before, where I would be free to leave and come back,” Justice said.

2News reached out to the company to ask about its unpaid leave policy, what has changed and whether Justice will have a job to return to. The company did not respond.

Justice said the uncertainty has forced him to choose between job security and answering a critical call for help.

“I don’t believe it’s asking much that these companies make a small sacrifice so we can come out here and serve,” he said.

Justice said he wants wildland firefighters to receive employment protections similar to those provided to National Guard members and certain volunteers.

“We’re out here doing the same job, putting our lives on the line to help others,” Justice said. “We’re out here serving and doing our part for the country, and all I ask is that we get a little protection so that when we get back home, we know we’ll still have a job and can continue to care for our families.”

Justice said the pressure of fighting a wildfire while not knowing whether he will be able to support his family when he returns makes an already dangerous job even more difficult.

He has written to Gov. Spencer Cox and Rep. Blake Moore asking for stronger employment protections for wildland firefighters and informing them of his situation. He said he has not heard back.

Rep. Moore provided the following statement:

“Our office hasn’t heard from this constituent about his situation, but we would encourage employers where they can to allow their employees to go fight the fires. I’m grateful to the many firefighters and first responders working to keep our communities safe, and I’m praying for their safety during this time.”

____

COVE, Scotland – A Utah couple is renovating and restoring a castle in Scotland.

David and Chelom Leavitt are documenting this massive project on social media, which has attracted more than 1.4 million followers.

Now, after years of work, the finish line is in sight.

KSL recently traveled to Scotland to get a look at the renovation and talk to the Leavitts about their experience.

Historic castle

In a village called Cove, along a body of water known as Loch Long, sits Knockderry Castle.

The nearly 175-year-old structure stands out as a prominent feature of the Scottish peninsula.

Murdo MacLeod lives just beneath the castle.

“It sits on this outcrop of rock,” he said, looking up at the towering turrets, “and the views from the rooms up there would be absolutely stunning, looking down the loch on a windy night.”

The castle has quite a history. Built in the 1850s, it has been renovated many times. Knockderry Castle has been visited by some rich and famous people, including philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

In 2023, the castle was sold to a couple from – of all places – Utah. Chelom and David Leavitt are now overseeing the castle’s complete renovation and restoration.

“We’re trying to find the balance,” said David, “between restoring what was and making it ours.”

Who are the Leavitts?

The Leavitts live in Orem, Utah. David is a former county attorney in Utah and Juab counties. Chelom is a family life professor at Brigham Young University.

“I have been looking at castles for decades, and just for fun,” Chelom said. “When this came up, we both thought this is the right thing to at least look into.”

The timing worked out. David was just out of office after losing his bid for reelection as Utah County Attorney; both he and Chelom said they were looking for something new and different.

They ended up buying the castle for a reported $1.4 million after the prior owner was evicted.

“Something kind of spoke to both of us,” Chelom said. “This is a really peaceful place.”

It was a dream come true – but also, sort of a nightmare.

“If we had any idea what we were getting ourselves into, there’s not a way in the world that we would have done it,” David said. “Not a chance.”

Major problems

The project quickly revealed problems, particularly with the wood inside the castle. Much of it had rotted.

“The fact that this castle is still standing is pretty amazing,” Chelom said. “Another 10 years and it would have been falling.”

That made the renovation much more complicated as workers needed to shore up the structure inside and out. David thinks of it like an Oreo cookie.

“We have completely restored both sides of the cookie,” he said, “and we’ve completely replaced the cream filling with 21st-century technology.”

That includes brand-new plumbing, heating and electrical. In the kitchen, a countertop charges cellphones. There’s also a very smart oven with many computerized features – and a faucet that instantly offers boiling, freezing or sparkling water.

When the renovation began more than three years ago, the Leavitts started a blog to chronicle their progress. But when they moved over to Instagram, things exploded. Knockderry Castle now has followers from around the world. The Leavitts post regular videos about the project, sharing their journey with strangers.

“Now we get stopped in stores and in airports” by fans who follow the castle renovation online, David Leavitt said. “That’s a really nice thing to be stopped for.”

Castle features

There’s a lot to see in the castle. Wood carvings are everywhere, along with roughly two dozen fireplaces. There are also little reminders of Utah, like a beehive on a stained-glass window.

Some rooms even have their own theme, such as the Japanese room or the Viking room.

There are also several rooms that would be difficult to find without knowing where to look. One of them is hidden behind a bookshelf. Another is secluded behind a bathroom mirror.

“Some are hidden, which means we’ll show those to people,” Chelom said. “But some are secret, and they won’t be shown.”

There’s something else that’s secret – how much this castle renovation costs.

“We get that question all the time,” David said.

The couple would only say they’ve spent more on the project than what they initially paid for the castle – and more than what they planned on.

The Leavitts acknowledge they’re in a unique position to be able to pay to restore a castle. They recognize many would love to do this – and they want to give something back to those who follow them.

“We feel this need to share it,” David said, “because we’re no different or better than anybody else that doesn’t have the ability to do that. We just … had the circumstances that would allow us to do that.”

The castle will be used as a family home, the Leavitts said, but they also plan to open it up to the public by hosting conferences, seminars or other events there. They hope the interior will all be finished by the end of this year.

This project hasn’t been easy. But the Leavitts say it’s kind of a metaphor for life.

“The person you want to be is on the other side of what you don’t want to face, and this is really what it was for us in this castle,” said Chelom. “Things that are worth doing in life, if you knew what you were getting into, you wouldn’t do them. But things that are worthwhile, they’re hard.”

‘A good thing’

Back below the castle, Murdo MacLeod looked up at the work in progress and called it a “good thing.”

He’ll be watching as Knockderry Castle enters the next chapter in its long history.

“At least it’ll be sound when it’s done,” MacLeod said, “and it’ll be here for, I think, quite a long time.”

He added, “I’m glad somebody’s come along and done it.”

PHOTO GALLERY