Daniel Packer

Daniel Packer chief of East Pierce Fire & Rescue and past president of the Washington Fire Chiefs, was killed Saturday at about 3:30 p.m. while supervising firefighting efforts on the Panther Fire south of Happy Camp in Siskiyou County.

Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said Packer, 49, was on a ridge with two other firefighters near Highway 96 when the wind shifted and flames raced toward them.

The other two firefighters were lower on the ridge; one made it out on foot and the other firefighter deployed his emergency fire tent and was able to survive.

Gravenkamp said Packer was higher up on the ridge and closer to the intense flames.

About 20 firefighter braved an ongoing fire and spent three hours working to remove Packer's body Sunday evening. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

Members of East Pierce Fire & Rescue are on their way to California to escort Packer's body.

The news of Packer's death came only a day after 18-year-old Andrew Jackson Palmer, a firefighter with the Olympic National Park, was killed by a falling tree while battling another wildfire in Trinity County.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was "deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two Washington state firefighters who were battling wildfires in Northern California."

Andrew Palmer

Flags at many fire stations around Washington state were lowered to half staff.

Chief Packer was assigned to assume a supervisory position in the firefighting effort. He is a member of a Washington state-based incident management team that is deployed to major incidents such as large wildfires.

Fire officials said he was supervising firefighting efforts on the front lines Saturday, and had been scheduled to take command of a large team of up to firefighters on Sunday.

A Forest Service investigation team is due to arrive on the Klamath National Forest by Monday, officials said.

The 250-acre Panther Fire was started by a lightning strike Monday night about 15 miles south of Happy Camp and has since burned toward Ukonom Creek and the Klamath River. It is part of the Siskiyou Complex fire near Yreka that has burned more than 50,000 acres and as of Saturday, was 36 percent contained.

The chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Abigail Kimbell, on a visit to Redding on Saturday, praised the courage of firefighters battling California's unprecedented wildland fires.

Palmer, the first Washington state firefighter to die on the lines, was working his first day on the job when he was hit by a falling tree Friday. He had graduated in June from Port Townsend High School.

Port Townsend High School Athletic Director Scott Ricardo called Palmer a "bright and shining star."