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Pilots of helicopter that crashed while fighting wildfire in Utah are dead, officials say
PBS • • nation
Key Points:
- Two helicopter pilots died Friday morning when their Sikorsky Skycrane crashed while fighting a wildfire in Utah's Fishlake National Forest, igniting a new fire that merged with the existing blaze covering nearly 174 square miles.
- The pilots were employees of Helicopter Transport Services, contracted by the U.S. Forest Service; officials confirmed their deaths after initially being unable to reach the crash site due to fire conditions.
- The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, with findings expected to take a year or more.
- Multiple wildfires continue to burn across the western U.S., including closures at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington and large fires near Spokane and Oregon, where a firefighter recently died battling the Wrights Spring fire.
- In British Columbia, Canada, over 20,000 residents were forced to evacuate due to a fast-moving wildfire, prompting a state of emergency declaration.
