Out of control wildfires rip through Colorado after firefighters die tackling blaze

The consolidation of thousands of personnel into the fire service has sown confusion among some firefighters about who their bosses are and what their responsibilities should be, according to former government officials.

The administration's focus on "full suppression" of new fires marks a sharp reversal from a decades-long trend toward embracing flames as a tool - to burn off old vegetation and growth that acts like fuel and lessen the risk of catastrophic blazes being stoked by a warming planet.

Federal officials have not released details on the circumstances preceding the weekend deaths, including the firefighters' objective at the site where they were overrun.