A helicopter battling a Utah wildfire crashes as a blaze kills dozer
operator in Oregon
[August 08, 2026]
RICHFIELD, Utah (AP) — A heavy-lift helicopter with two people on board
battling a large Utah wildfire crashed as firefighters worked to corral
an uncontained blaze in Oregon that killed a bulldozer operator,
officials said Friday.
There was no word on the conditions of the people aboard the helicopter
as officials said they couldn't immediately reach the crash site.
During firefighting operations in Oregon, 47-year-old Jason Ensign died
Thursday while operating a dozer for a timber company. The Wrights
Spring fire escalated with “unexpected and rapid growth” and cut off
Ensign's escape route, the local sheriff's department said.
The fire started on Wednesday in south-central Oregon east of the town
of Chiloquin. It had burned almost 14 square miles (36 square
kilometers) by Friday with no containment, according to the U.S. Forest
Service. Extremely hot and dry weather has caused erratic fire behavior,
officials said.
The downed helicopter was one of seven working a fire in central Utah
that was caused by lightning on July 27. It crashed near Richfield,
which is about 160 miles (258 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City, the
Federal Aviation Administration said.
Conditions were good enough for aircraft to fly when the helicopter
crashed, said Tyler Hecht with the Great Basin Incident Management Team.
The Sikorsky S-64 helicopter had been working in an area with steep
terrain. It ignited another fire when it crashed. Hecht said at an
afternoon press conference he did not know how long the helicopter was
flying before it crashed.
Response teams had not been able to get to the scene of the accident by
Friday evening because of the flames, but hoped to get there in the next
24 hours, officials said.
“We didn't want to put them at bigger risk,” Sevier County Sheriff
Nathan Curtis said. “We'll get them in there as soon as we can."
It was unknown if fire had overrun the crash scene, Hecht said.
Firefighting efforts were paused after the accident but later resumed,
they said.
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This undated photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service on Friday,
Aug. 7, 2026, shows the Widemouth 2 wildfire burning near Richfield,
Utah. (U.S. Forest Service/Fishlake National Forest via AP)
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will investigate,
but they may not be able to safely reach the scene immediately if
the wildfire is burning nearby.
Sikorsky S-64 “Skycrane” helicopters are used commercially and by
government agencies for fire fighting and other purposes. They can
be equipped with tanks to drop water or fire retardant onto blazes.
Fire crews were warned Friday morning that there would be erratic
winds, dry fuels and hot temperatures as well as the potential for
dry thunderstorms and lightning. Red flag warnings were in effect.
The fire on the Fishlake National Forest near small community of
Kanosh, Utah had grown to 165 square miles (427 square kilometers)
and was 19% contained by Friday morning. More than 600 firefighting
personnel are battling the blaze, which has triggered evacuations
and destroyed at least six structures as it burns through timber,
brush and grass.
Months of dry weather, a record lack of snow in some areas, hot
spells and erratic winds have contributed to blazes in Utah and
other parts of the West.
Four firefighters were killed and a fifth was injured after they
were overcome by a fast-moving wildfire in Colorado in June. The
firefighters tried to shield themselves by deploying tentlike
emergency shelters as flames overran their position.
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