Utah wildfire blocks rescuers from reaching firefighting helicopter crash site

Officials did not identify the pilots but said they were employed by Helicopter Transport Services, which was contracted by US Forest Service

Two helicopter pilots who crashed while they were fighting a wildfire in Utah have died, officials confirmed Saturday. The pilots were killed when their Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter went down Friday morning, according to the Sevier County Sheriff.

The helicopter was among those fighting a fire in the Fishlake National Forest. The crash ignited a new fire that spread to connect with the existing blaze, which has now scorched nearly 174 square miles (nearly 451skm).

Initially officials said they were unable to reach the crash site because of the fire. Then, on Saturday, crews were able to enter the area and confirmed the deaths, according to the Sevier County sheriff and coroner.

Widemouth 2 has swept through more than 114,600 acres (46,400 hectares) and was 24% contained, as of Saturday. That figure marked a jump from early on Friday, where the fire’s scope was reported as reaching more than 105,000 acres, according to state data.

The chopper’s crash ignited a new blaze, state authorities said at a news conference on Friday evening. The accident site is within the fire’s perimeter.

“Ground resources attempted to respond immediately, but access to the scene was compromised by the emergent fire,” the US Forest Service wrote in a Saturday statement. “Without a safety zone, the Incident Management Team determined not to place lives at risk until the area is deemed safe.”

Federal officials had advised the public to refrain from speculating on the nature of the crash, as search-and-rescue teams waited for fire conditions to subside to safer levels.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were en route to Richfield, a city roughly 160 miles (250km) south of Salt Lake City, as of Friday. When they are able to reach the crash site, they will document the scene, before retrieving the aircraft.

It will probably take the NTSB a year or more to determine the cause.

The western US states have faced a deadly wildfire season. In June, three firefighters died, as they battled a blaze along the Colorado-Utah border. A fourth firefighter later died from burn injuries sustained during the emergency response.