The Associated Press
EASTON, Wash. — A helicopter carrying four people surveying a potential timber sale crashed and burst into flames on the east slopes of the Cascade Range, starting a fire that had spread through more than 400 acres of dry timber by Friday, authorities said.
All four on the chopper were believed to have died Thursday, but their fate could not be confirmed because the fire prevented rescue personnel from reaching the crash site three miles south of this small town about 60 miles southeast of Seattle, Kittitas County Undersheriff Clayton J. Myers said.
“The fire is so active, it’s just not safe for anyone to go in,” said Mark A. Grassel, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources.
Myers identified the pilot as Keoko Minakata of Classic Helicopter, a charter company based at Boeing Field in Seattle.
The flight was chartered by Robert Hagerman of Marysville, owner of Foremark Marketing Enterprises, a timber company in Everett. Hagerman and two potential timber buyers were aboard the flight, Myers said. He said the other identities were being held until family could be notified.
The nearest witnesses, about half a mile away, told authorities they heard the crash shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday and saw the helicopter engulfed in flames and the fire spreading, Myers said.
Fire crews estimated the blaze at between 400 and 500 acres, up from 300 acres the day before, said fire information officer Roland Emetaz. No homes were immediately threatened. Myers said an unoccupied cabin was about a mile away.