SW Idaho firefighter severely burned in Alaska

A 28-year-old southwest Idaho firefighter has been severely burned while fighting wildfires in Alaska.

In a statement Friday, officials with the Boise National Forest said Todd Warner was transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital with second- and third-degree burns Thursday.

Warner, a member of Idaho City "Hotshot" crew, was burned on his hands, arms and face.

He was transported Friday to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with what National Forest spokesman David Olson described as burns over an estimated 20 percent of his body.

Olson says Warner's crew was initially sent to the Minto Flats South fire burning near Nenana, Alaska, but was diverted to another new blaze.

Olson says it appears Warner was burned by either a flash fire or an explosion that was fueled by gasoline.

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