(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Firefighters gather at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Flags fly at half mast at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Firefighters secure a flag at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Firefighters secure a flag at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
The procession arrives for the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Firefighters gather for the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Speaking at his son Matthew Burchett's funeral, Tom Burchett leaves a voicemail on Matthew's phone. Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Gina Zipp and Monica Brinkerhoff, sisters of Matthew Burchett, speak at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Speaking at his son Matthew Burchett's funeral, Tom Burchett smiles as voicemails left by Matthew are played. Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Dominic Burchett (brother) encourages the audience to get up and make some noise at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Dominic Burchett (brother) ruffles his hair while speaking at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Audience members applaud at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Dominic Burchett (brother) is embraced by District Chief Duane Woolsey at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Honor Guard at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Fmaily members stand and applaud at the funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Funeral services for Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Monday Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The casket with fallen Utah firefighter Matthew Burchett is loaded into a fire engine after the funeral at the Maverick Center, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The gear of Utah firefighter Matthew Burchett. Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Murray Firefighters salute the funeral procession for Utah firefighter Matthew Burchett as it travels down I-215 to the cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The casket carrying Matthew Burchett is carried by the pall bearers at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The flag on the casket of Matthew Burchett is folded by the pall bearers at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The casket carrying Matthew Burchett is unloaded from Draper fire engine 21 at Eastlawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The casket is brought to the cemetery carrying Matthew Burchett in a Draper fire engine 21 to Eastlawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Matthew Burchett is carried by the pall bearers at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The casket carrying Matthew Burchett is carried by the pall bearers at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The flag on the casket of Matthew Burchett is folded by the pall bearers at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The casket carrying Matthew Burchett is carried by the pall bearers at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A fireighter walks into a fog stream during a missing man formation wearing Mathew Bruchess's gear, during a service for Matthew Burchett at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A couple hug each other at the graveside service for Matthew Burchett at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo, Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
The widow of a Utah firefighter who was killed when a supertanker dropped nearly 20,000 gallons of fire retardant near his position fighting a Northern California fire has filed a lawsuit against Cal Fire and the aircraft company for alleged negligence.
State investigators found 42-year-old battalion chiefMatthew Burchett, of Draper, died last August when fire retardant was dropped from an aircraft flying barely above the treetops because spotters mistakenly sent it on a route too close to the ground.
The retardant, dropped from a Boeing 747 mistakenly flying only 100 feet overhead, struck with such force it uprooted an 87-foot tree that fell on Burchett. The pilots had failed to recognize that there was a hill in the flight path, according to a report by The Associated Press detailing the findings of the Green Sheet report by the state’s firefighting agency.
Burchett, who was one of one of about 40 Utah firefighters from seven agencies deployed to help a state facing the most intense wildfires in the nation, died later at Ukiah Valley Medical Center.
The Draper resident had years of experience with wildfires, beginning to work seasonally with the Unified Fire Authority’s wildland division in 1995 after he graduated from Judge Memorial High School the year before.
He eventually became a full-time firefighter with Unified Fire and reached the rank of captain. He responded to house fires and medical emergencies like every city firefighter but also continued battling wildfires. He’d traveled to blazes in California twice before, in 2009 and 2016.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Heather Burchett, the firefighter’s widow, and Griffin Burchett, his son, says Burchett was in a “safe zone” when the retardant was dropped.
The defendants failed to properly warn or protect ground forces, including Burchett, from the “unreasonably hazardous conditions,” the lawsuit alleges, and improperly executed the retardant drop, thereby breaching their owed “duties of care.”
The plane and its pilot “had not performed drops in the area and was not familiar with the heavy vegetation and elevation changes along the flight path,” the lawsuit alleges. And the height from which the drop was performed was at “a much lower elevation than the required heights for such retardant drops.”
The plaintiffs are seeking non-economic damages in an amount to be determined at trial, for “the loss of Matthew Burchett’s love, companionship, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support, training, guidance and intimate relations.”
They are also seeking an as-yet undetermined amount in economic damages, including for funeral, burial and litigation expenses as well as a loss of financial support and inheritance.
Cal Fire did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.