Firefighting copter crash injures two

BOISE – A helicopter dropping water on fires in north-central Idaho crash-landed in a marshy area, injuring its two pilots.

The helicopter, a privately owned Bell 214 hired by the U.S. Forest Service to make bucket drops on the 60-square-mile East Zone Complex of three fires northeast of McCall, damaged its cabin when it went down Wednesday evening. It ended up on its side in a marshy area between a small lake and timber where the fire is burning. The aircraft did not burn.

A firefighting airplane that was flying in the area at the time alerted authorities, who deployed another helicopter from McCall to retrieve the two injured pilots. They were able to move away from the downed chopper and reach a spot where the second helicopter could pick them up, Forest Service officials said.

One of the pilots was treated at McCall Memorial Hospital and released while the other was being held there “for a few days for observation,” said George Broyles, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. He declined to give details of their injuries, or provide information about the helicopter’s owner. The pilots were not identified.

Firefighters on the East Zone Complex, one of 15 fires burning on about 1,300 square miles across the state, were aided by cloud cover and lower temperatures. The lightning-caused fire was still growing, but only slowly, Broyles said.