Nine presumed dead in fire copter crash

SAN FRANCISCO – Eight firefighters and a pilot are presumed dead in the crash of a helicopter that had just picked up workers battling a blaze in a Northern California forest, officials said Wednesday.

The helicopter had lifted off from a clearing in a remote, rugged region of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, said Jennifer Rabuck, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

The aircraft was carrying 11 firefighters and two crew members when it went down Tuesday night in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Four people were flown to hospitals with severe burns, according to the Forest Service.

The Sikorsky S-61N chopper was destroyed by fire after crashing “under unknown circumstances,” said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. The NTSB was leading the investigation and was headed to the scene, about 215 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Firefighters who were waiting to be picked up helped rescue the injured after the helicopter crashed around 7:45 p.m. and caught fire, Rabuck said. About three dozen firefighters had to spend the night on the mountain because it became too dark for other helicopters to land, she said.

Nine people – a co-pilot and eight firefighters – were still missing in the wreckage and presumed killed. Recovery efforts have been complicated by the remote location, and the wreckage is still burning, Rabuck said.

“It’s difficult to access,” she said. “It’s very remote, very steep and heavily forested.”

The firefighters had been working at the northern end of a fire burning on more than 27 square miles in the national forest, part of a larger complex of blazes that is mostly contained.

“We are praying for the swift recovery of all the victims, and our hearts go out to their loved ones,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.

Some of the firefighters, including those in the hospital, were employed by firefighting contractor Grayback Forestry, based in Merlin, Ore. Mike Wheelock, Grayback’s founder and owner, would not confirm any deaths.

The helicopter was owned and operated by Carson Helicopters Inc., a Pennsylvania company whose firefighting operations are based in Grants Pass, Ore. All 12 of the company’s helicopters are being used for firefighting in Oregon and California, said Bob Madden, Carson’s director of corporate affairs.

Meanwhile, fire crews worked to contain a series of small fires sparked by a storm that generated an estimated 2,000 lightning strikes in California, Oregon and Nevada over the past two days, said Basil Newmerzhycky, a Forest Service meteorologist.