21-year-old firefighter from Boulder killed in on-duty crash in Oregon

A 21-year-old firefighter from Boulder who had been battling Oregon’s Flat fire died in an on-duty crash near Powers, Oregon, on Friday.

Benjamin Charles Sapper was working as a first-year hand-crew member with the Gold Beach Ranger District in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, according to a Saturday news release from the U.S. Forest Service.

“This is a devastating loss of one of our own Gold Beach firefighters,” Gold Beach District Ranger Kailey Guerrant said in the news release. “We have a tight-knit community on the Gold Beach and Powers Ranger Districts, and we stand together in grief and support for his family, friends, and fellow firefighters during this heartbreaking time.”