Wildfire Claims Life of Courageous Airtanker Pilot

Sad deal for sure. I have friends that were witness to this and can not give me what they know due the active investigation.
R.I.P. young lady!

Yeah, western N America's always had significant wildfires, and this season's just getting started. I picked up another rock load today, still working our home's foundation rocking. State & county folks are doing lots more fire mitigation here too. Also, these gov't projects are much more aggressive.

Few years ago they followed a 10 to 15ft tree canopy clearance plan. Today, those areas are really nice hikes, with open bright forest with lots of shade too. This year's mitigation look a lot like more like clear cuts that peeps are now complaining about.

Cheers

Tragic but thankfully there are courageous men and women who dedicate and offer their lives selflessly to ensure the quality of life for strangers.

For perspective:

From last nights town hall meeting in Helena.

Fire, plane crash



By: Jonathon Ambarian

Posted at 10:33 PM, Jul 12, 2024

EAST HELENA — The incident management team overseeing the response to the Horse Gulch Fire said they made some progress Friday, but they’re preparing for difficult conditions Saturday.Authorities held a community meeting Friday evening at East Helena High School. They said the fire grew to just over 11,500 acres, with most of the increase on the southeastern edge. They were able to put more hand crews and aerial resources into reinforcing lines on the northwest side near York and the southwest side near Canyon Ferry, as weather conditions were more favorable. There have still been no reports of structures destroyed.However, leaders said they’re concerned about “intense” fire weather on Saturday, with high temperatures, low humidity and wind. A larger incident management team is set to take over the fire this weekend. Jonathon Ambarian An updated map of the Horse Gulch Fire, as of 7 p.m., July 12, 2024 Sheriff Leo Dutton said evacuations are remaining in place for now. He urged the public to avoid interfering with fire operations – particularly boaters on the lakes who might get in the way of firefighting planes and helicopters.Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board say they’re not ready to speculate yet about what may have caused the plane crash that killed a firefighting pilot working on the Horse Gulch Fire.The NTSB held a news conference Friday at East Helena High School to release initial information about the crash. They said the wreckage has been fully recovered from Hauser Lake and is now on its way to a secure facility to be fully examined. Two investigators will remain on scene several more days to collect more information.“During this part of our investigation process, we focus on gathering facts and perishable data that can go away with time or be altered when the wreckage is recovered and moved,” said air safety investigator Kristyn Blocher. Jonathon Ambarian NTSB air safety investigator Kristyn Blocher spoke about the plane crash that killed a firefighting pilot working on the Horse Gulch Fire, during a news conference July 12, 2024. Blocher said the plane that crashed was part of a group of four that came from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Wednesday morning to help fight the fire, and that they were starting to scoop water out of Hauser Lake when it happened.“The second airplane in the flight of four began their scoop, was departing the lake and ended up impacting terrain beside the lake,” said Blocher. “After they impacted terrain, the airplane fell back into the lake, came to rest inverted in the water.”

Sven

From last nights town hall meeting in Helena.

Fire, plane crash



By: Jonathon Ambarian

Posted at 10:33 PM, Jul 12, 2024

EAST HELENA — The incident management team overseeing the response to the Horse Gulch Fire said they made some progress Friday, but they’re preparing for difficult conditions Saturday.Authorities held a community meeting Friday evening at East Helena High School. They said the fire grew to just over 11,500 acres, with most of the increase on the southeastern edge. They were able to put more hand crews and aerial resources into reinforcing lines on the northwest side near York and the southwest side near Canyon Ferry, as weather conditions were more favorable. There have still been no reports of structures destroyed.However, leaders said they’re concerned about “intense” fire weather on Saturday, with high temperatures, low humidity and wind. A larger incident management team is set to take over the fire this weekend. Jonathon Ambarian An updated map of the Horse Gulch Fire, as of 7 p.m., July 12, 2024 Sheriff Leo Dutton said evacuations are remaining in place for now. He urged the public to avoid interfering with fire operations – particularly boaters on the lakes who might get in the way of firefighting planes and helicopters.Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board say they’re not ready to speculate yet about what may have caused the plane crash that killed a firefighting pilot working on the Horse Gulch Fire.The NTSB held a news conference Friday at East Helena High School to release initial information about the crash. They said the wreckage has been fully recovered from Hauser Lake and is now on its way to a secure facility to be fully examined. Two investigators will remain on scene several more days to collect more information.“During this part of our investigation process, we focus on gathering facts and perishable data that can go away with time or be altered when the wreckage is recovered and moved,” said air safety investigator Kristyn Blocher. Jonathon Ambarian NTSB air safety investigator Kristyn Blocher spoke about the plane crash that killed a firefighting pilot working on the Horse Gulch Fire, during a news conference July 12, 2024. Blocher said the plane that crashed was part of a group of four that came from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Wednesday morning to help fight the fire, and that they were starting to scoop water out of Hauser Lake when it happened.“The second airplane in the flight of four began their scoop, was departing the lake and ended up impacting terrain beside the lake,” said Blocher. “After they impacted terrain, the airplane fell back into the lake, came to rest inverted in the water.”

Looks like they’re.getting after this fire pretty good. Hope we get some helpful weather soon.

Thanks for posting!

Cheers

She doesn't look 45. I thought she was in her early 30's. It's a shame this happened. She was a special lady to be part of a team to help control forest fires. God Bless her and her family.