An assistant fire chief who was badly burned during a forest fire in Eastern Washington last month has died.
Christian Dean Johnson, 55, died Wednesday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he had spent the last month in intensive care trying to recover from the fire that left much of his body burned.
The Spring Coulee Fire started on the evening on Sept. 1 south of Okanogan. Johnson, a volunteer assistant chief with Okanogan County Fire District 3, was in a brush truck with another firefighter on the north end of the fire when flames overtook them, county leaders told KOMO News. The other firefighter outran the fire, but came back, treated Johnson as much as possible, and called for help.
He was flown to Harborview where doctors determined Johnson suffered second and third degree burns to more than 50% of his body, officials said.