Fires hinder investigators at helicopter crash site

EASTON, Wash. – A growing forest fire prevented investigators from getting to the wreckage of a helicopter crash on the rugged eastern slopes of the Cascade Range until Friday afternoon.

Emergency crews have recovered all four of the bodies, Kittitas County Sheriff Gene Dana said Saturday night. The wreckage of the helicopter was being removed Saturday night, Dana said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administrative are investigating the crash.

The top priority on Saturday was to keep the fire within its 405-acre perimeter, although the blaze was not at all contained, fire information officer Roland Emetaz said Saturday night.

Emetaz said the weather, in the low 70s, was being cooperative for firefighters.

About 361 people were fighting the fire with 19 engines, 15 water tenders and four bulldozers on steep, rocky terrain covered by timber three miles southwest of the small town of Easton and about 60 miles east-southeast of Seattle, Emetaz said.

The fire was not immediately threatening any buildings, Emetaz said.

Emetaz said a troublesome 25-acre spot fire had broken out in extremely difficult terrain about a half mile east of the main fire. He said an order had gone out for Type 1 Hot Shot crews.

Kittitas County Undersheriff Clayton Myers identified the pilot as Keiko Minakata of Classic Helicopter, a charter company based at Boeing Field in Seattle. She had been with the company since March 2005.

The flight was chartered by Robert Hagerman, of Marysville, owner of Formark Marketing Enterprises, a timber company in Everett. Hagerman and two potential timber buyers were aboard the helicopter, Myers said.

The other two people on board were South Korean nationals Hyun Song and Si Lee, the Daily Record newspaper in Ellensburg reported Friday.

A second forest fire that began Thursday afternoon about seven miles northwest of Cliffdell in the Mt. Baker-Snoquamie National Forest was at 83 acres on Saturday night, said fire information officer Cynthia Bork of the Washington Interagency Incident Management Team.

Bork said the Crow Creek Fire was about 60 percent contained, although a lot of fuel remained within the fire’s perimeter. Forest Service Road 1900 has been closed for the weekend, while about 170 people work on that fire.

Also on Saturday night, a fire burning in North Cascades National Park 15 miles northwest of Stehekin was at 225 acres. The Eastern Fire Use Management Team, which has been managing the blaze for the past two weeks, turned management of the fire over to North Cascades National Park on Saturday.

Three helicopters, about 50 firefighters and 25 support personnel are working on the fire.