Pilot fighting Colorado wildfire dies as plane crashes into reservoir

Body of pilot involved in tackling Gold Mountain fire recovered by divers from Silver Jack reservoir

A pilot who was helping to fight a wildfire in Colorado has died after the aviator’s aircraft crashed into a reservoir, local authorities said.

The Gunnison county sheriff’s office said in a statement that it was notified of the deadly crash at about 5.17pm local time on Sunday. Gunnison’s regional communications center received a call reporting that the aircraft involved in the crash went down in the Silver Jack reservoir located in the county’s south-western portion.

The sheriff’s office said, “the aircraft has been confirmed to be engaged in firefighting operations with the Gold Mountain fire,” which has been burning since 27 June.

In an initial statement on Sunday, authorities said they believed one person was onboard.

That person’s status was not immediately known, and a dive team – along with other rescue resources – was dispatched to the scene.

Later on Sunday, the sheriff’s office announced that the Montrose county sheriff’s office dive team had “recovered the body of the pilot from the aircraft”.

The statement added that the pilot’s body would be taken to the coroner’s office in Gunnison. And the sheriff’s office said it would not release any other information until the pilot’s family had received formal notification.

As of Monday morning, the Gold Mountain fire had burned more than 35,000 acres and is 13% contained . Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of south-western Gunnison county.

The cause of the wildfire – which was first reported just north-east of Colorado’s Ouray county – was undetermined as of Monday.

On 1 July, Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, announced that the state had been approved for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) fire management assistance Grant to support the response to the Gold Mountain fire in Ouray county.

“I am deeply grateful for the hardworking brave firefighters putting their lives on the line to protect us and keep our communities safe,” Polis said.

The pilot’s death on Sunday came after the US Wildland Fire Service announced that three firefighters were killed and two others were injured while responding to wildfires along the Colorado- Utah border in late June.

It also comes as firefighters across Colorado continue to battle several major wildfires that have ignited in recent weeks.

Among them is the Ferris fire in south-western Colorado, which, as of Monday, had burned more than 64,000 acres and is 29% contained.

Evacuation orders have been issued for some areas, and Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency in response to the Ferris fire on 8 July , activating the state emergency operations plan.

Meanwhile, the Willow fire, burning west of Leadville and started on 28 June, is 33% contained as of Monday and has burned more than 6,200 acres.

The Aspen Acres fire, which began north-west of Rye in late June, has burned 98,600 acres and was 36% contained as of Monday.