A firefighting helicopter responding to the Widemouth 2 Fire in central Utah has crashed, U.S. Forest Service officials confirmed on Friday.
The crash happened in the Fishlake National Forest and emergency personnel were responding to the scene as of 3 p.m. Mountain Time, according to a press release sent out by Forest Service personnel on Friday. Officials said responding to the incident is their top priority.
“Local, state, and federal authorities are assisting in the response,” officials said. “Information will be released as soon as it is available. Please be patient as the response to this incident continues to occur and safety actions are prioritized first.”
The fire, which has burned over 106,000 acres as of Friday morning, was caused by lightning on July 27 and is 19% contained. Erratic winds, dry fuels and hot temperatures have worsened fire spread, but upcoming monsoonal moisture offers hope of lessened fire danger.
“Direct suppression tactics are not feasible, nor safe, in many areas due to terrain, slope alignment, erratic winds, dry fuels and extreme fire behavior,” Fishlake National Forest officials said. “It is too early for meteorologists to predict how much rainfall will occur and where.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz recently visited areas impacted by the Widemouth 2 Fire to sign a formal funding commitment to post-fire flooding mitigation.
This is a developing situation. This article will be updated with the latest information as it is released.
1 Comment
I hope they weren’t helimopping, or dropping water on the fire with nobody on the ground to take advantage of it. It seems like the fires are now all too dangerous to suppress due to weather, fuels, topography , global warming or some other excuse, so the Ops folks are transferring all the risk to the aviation folks. Not a good tactic!