Utah wildfire helicopter crashes as Oregon dozer operator is killed

A heavy-lift helicopter crashed while battling a Utah wildfire, and an Oregon bulldozer operator was killed on another blaze. The back-to-back incidents underscore the extreme risks crews face in fast-changing fire conditions.

In Short

• Rescuers could not reach the Utah crash site because flames blocked access
• The Sikorsky Skycrane was working steep terrain and sparked another blaze
• Oregon's Wrights Spring fire expanded rapidly, trapping a bulldozer operator Thursday

A heavy-lift helicopter carrying two people crashed while helping fight a large wildfire in Utah, and a bulldozer operator was killed in a separate fire in Oregon, officials said on Friday.

Authorities said they could not immediately reach the helicopter crash site in Utah, so there was no immediate word on the condition of the two people on board. In Oregon, 47-year-old Jason Ensign died on Thursday while operating a dozer for a timber company after the Wrights Spring fire grew with “unexpected and rapid growth” and cut off his escape route, the local sheriff’s department said.

The Oregon fire started on Wednesday in south-central Oregon, east of the town of Chiloquin. By Friday, it had burned almost 14 square miles, or 36 square kilometres, with no containment, according to the US Forest Service. Officials said extremely hot and dry weather had led to erratic fire behaviour.

In Utah, the downed helicopter was one of seven aircraft working on a wildfire in central Utah that was sparked by lightning on July 27. The Federal Aviation Administration said it crashed near Richfield, about 160 miles, or 258 kilometres, south of Salt Lake City. Tyler Hecht of the Great Basin Incident Management Team said conditions were good enough for aircraft to fly when the helicopter went down.

Hecht said the Sikorsky S-64 helicopter had been working in an area with steep terrain and that the crash started another fire. Speaking at an afternoon press conference, he said he did not know how long the helicopter had been flying before it crashed. Officials said response teams had not been able to reach the site by Friday evening because of the flames, but hoped to get there within the next 24 hours. “We didn’t want to put them at bigger risk,” Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said. “We’ll get them in there as soon as we can.” Hecht said it was not known whether the fire had overrun the crash site.

Officials said firefighting efforts were paused after the crash and later resumed. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA will investigate, though they may not be able to safely reach the area immediately if the wildfire is still burning nearby. Sikorsky S-64 “Skycrane” helicopters are used commercially and by government agencies for firefighting and other work, and can be fitted with tanks to drop water or fire retardant onto fires.

Fire crews in Utah were warned on Friday morning about erratic winds, dry fuels and high temperatures, along with the risk of dry thunderstorms and lightning. Red flag warnings were in place. The fire in the Fishlake National Forest near the small community of Kanosh had grown to 165 square miles, or 427 square kilometres, and was 19 per cent contained by Friday morning. More than 600 firefighting personnel were battling the blaze, which has led to evacuations and destroyed at least six structures as it spread through timber, brush and grass.

Officials said months of dry weather, a record lack of snow in some areas, hot spells and erratic winds had helped fuel fires in Utah and other parts of the western US. In June, four firefighters were killed and a fifth was injured in Colorado after a fast-moving wildfire overran their position as they tried to protect themselves with tent-like emergency shelters.

With PTI Inputs

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