Associated Press
RICHFIELD, Utah — A helicopter helping battle a large Utah wildfire crashed Friday with no word on the conditions of the two people aboard as officials said they couldn’t immediately reach the crash site.
The helicopter was one of seven working the Widemouth 2 Fire in central Utah that was caused by lightning on July 27. It crashed near Richfield, which is about 160 miles (258 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Conditions were good enough for aircraft to fly when the helicopter crashed, said Tyler Hecht with the Great Basin Incident Management Team, at an afternoon press conference.
The helicopter had been working in an area with steep terrain and when it crashed, it ignited another fire. Response teams had not been able to get to the scene of the accident by Friday evening because of the flames, but hoped to get there in the next 24 hours, officials said.
It was unknown if fire had overrun the crash scene, Hecht said.
Firefighting efforts were paused after the accident but later resumed, they said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will investigate, but they may not be able to safely reach the scene immediately if the wildfire is burning nearby.
Fire crews were warned Friday morning that there would be erratic winds, dry fuels and hot temperatures as well as the potential for dry thunderstorms and lightning. Red flag warnings were in effect.
The fire on the Fishlake National Forest near small community of Kanosh, Utah had grown to 165 square miles (427 square kilometers) and was 19% contained by Friday morning. More than 600 firefighting personnel are battling the blaze, which has triggered evacuations and destroyed at least six structures as it burns through timber, brush and grass.
Months of dry weather, a record lack of snow in some areas, hot spells and erratic winds have contributed to blazes in Utah and other parts of the West.
Four firefighters were killed and a fifth was injured after they were overcome by a fast-moving wildfire in Colorado in June. The firefighters tried to shield themselves by deploying tentlike emergency shelters as flames overran their position.
