A U.S. Forest Service fire lookout of 50 years died when she didn't heed advice to leave her home, which was overtaken by the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County, officials said.
Kathy Shoopman, 74, died July 29 at her Klamath River home. The Forest Service, speaking at a news conference Monday posted onsaid she was among the four people who died in the fire. The names of the other three have not been released.
The exact circumstances of her death were unclear, but she did not leave the area, even though she had been told to evacuate on Friday, Rachel Smith, the Klamath National Forest supervisor, said. Shoopman told officials she'd be "more comfortable" remaining at home, Smith said.
She began her lookout career in 1974 at the Baldy Mountain Lookout, west of the community of Happy Camp. She often worked alongside her dog or cat named Kitty. In 1993, she transitioned to the Buckhorn Lookout, about four miles north of the Klamath River community. All the news you need to know, every day