Five weeks after suffering third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body, White Mountain Apache firefighter Rick Lupe died Thursday. He was 43.
Lupe was burned on May 14 during a prescribed burn on the Fort Apache Reservation in central Arizona. Wind fanned the flames, trapping him, and then blew away his protective fire shelter.
Lupe fell to the ground and let the fire burn his hands and face and sear his lungs. Then he walked half a mile for help.