Noorvik's Leslie Washington died on a Minnesota fire, and two states have lowered their flags

Leslie R. Washington, 41, of Noorvik, died August 11 following a medical emergency while responding to the Bear Trap Fire in northeastern Minnesota, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service said.

He was a wildland firefighter with Scorched Earth Services, assigned to the company's K-River 2 contract crew supporting the federal response. The Bureau of Land Management lists the company as based in Huslia, and Minnesota's governor described K-River 2 as a Tribal crew whose members traveled from communities across rural Alaska, among them Huslia, Allakaket, Ambler, Selawik and Noorvik.

Alaska state flags fly at half-staff in his honor through the close of business Tuesday, August 18, under an order from Governor Mike Dunleavy. The order runs two sentences. Minnesota lowered its flags as well, under a proclamation signed August 13 by Governor Tim Walz that names the fire, names the crew, and records Washington as a member of the Inupiaq people of the Northwest Arctic, cherished by his family and by the village of Noorvik.

The federal release, issued from Boise on August 12, stated what the government would not say: "Out of consideration of the family, Interior is not releasing additional medical information at this time."

"We are heartbroken at the loss of a wildland firefighter who died while protecting others," said U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy. "We mourn alongside his families, loved ones, friends and crewmates as they face this profound loss."

Federal officials estimated the fire at nearly 30,000 acres in the Superior National Forest near Ely, and 44 percent contained, as of August 12.

The available records are federal and state documents only. They contain no statement from Scorched Earth Services, from the crew, or from the family in Noorvik. Interior said additional information will be released as it becomes available.