SLC fire captain identified as man killed in Colorado rafting accident

DINOSAUR, Colorado – A 27-year veteran of the Salt Lake City Fire Department has been identified as the man who died in a rafting accident in Dinosaur National Monument on Colorado’s Green River.

Captain Michael Harp was on a permitted private tour on the river when staff were notified of a boat stuck on a rock in the Hells Half Mile rapids, a Class III/IV rapid.

Harp, 54, was missing from the raft and believed to be under the watercraft. When the group was later able to secure the boat, Harp was discovered unconscious before drifting down the river without his life jacket removed.

Recovery efforts began in Lodore Canyon, where the accident occurred. On Friday morning, a commercial rafting company said it had found Harp’s body 10 miles downstream from the accident site.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Harp was a second-generation firefighter who served in Utah Task Force 1 and was deployed to Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks.

“Captain Michael Harp dedicated his life not only to the citizens of Salt Lake City, but also to his fellow firefighters,” the fire department wrote. “His legacy of service, leadership, compassion and infectious laughter will be forever remembered by all who knew him.”