JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A Cody native was killed working a forest fire in New Mexico, according to United States Forest Service officials.
USFS issued a release saying it mourns the loss of wildland firefighter Tim Hart, 36, who was fighting fire as an elite smokejumper in New Mexico.
“I am deeply saddened to share that Tim Hart, a Forest Service Smokejumper, has died from injuries sustained on May 24 while responding to the Eicks Fire in Hildago County, New Mexico,” said Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. “Our hearts go out to Tim’s family, loved ones, friends, fellow Forest Service employees, and the entire wildland fire community, and I ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this time of sorrow while respecting the family’s privacy.”
Hart began his wildland firefighting career on the Coconino National Forest in 206, and then the Fremont-Winema National Forest as an engine crew member. Then in 2009, he joined the Shoshone National Forest as a lead forestry technician on an engine and in 2010 detailed to the Asheville Interagency Hotshot Crew as a lead firefighter.
Tim worked for the Bureau of Land Management on the Ruby Mountain Hotshot Crew. He joined the smokejumper program in 2016 and re-located to Grangeville, Idaho as a rookie. In 2019 his wildland firefighter journey took him to West Yellowstone, Montana as a Smokejumper squad leader and in 2020 as a spotter.
Hart was airlifted to a hospital in El Paso, Texas aft earth injury on May 26. He later died there. Details about the nature of the injury are unavailable and under investigation according to the Forest Service.
