Grayback Forestry and Carson Helicopters are helping to plan a tribute for the 9 people that died in the August 5 helicopter crash on the Iron 44 fire. It is scheduled for Friday, August 15 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Lithia Motors amphitheater on the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Central Point, near Medford, Oregon. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. The Amphitheater is at 1 Peninger Road in Central Point, off Exit 33 (Pine Street) on Interstate 5.
A celebration honoring James N. Ramage of Redding is set for 2 p.m. Saturday August 16 at the Redding Convention Center. The 63-year-old U.S. Forest Service helicopter pilot died with eight others last week in the Buckhorn Fire helicopter crash in Trinity County.
The event will celebrate his life and 24-year career as a helicopter pilot and aviation inspector with both the U.S. Forest Service and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The celebration begins at 1:30 p.m. with a procession of fire apparatus at the Redding Convention Center, followed by the 2 p.m. ceremony of invited speakers, a video presentation highlighting his life and career, remarks and comments by his family and friends, and a fly-over tribute of fire-fighting aircraft.
The public is invited to attend. Those wishing to attend are advised to arrive early because of likely traffic congestion and parking limitations.
IndyCar race tribute at Infineon raceway, “Firefighter Appreciation Day”
………Infineon Raceway will honor these courageous (firefighters) for their incredibly heroic efforts at the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County during Firefighter Appreciation Day on Sunday, August 24.
The first 10,000 race fans that enter the raceway on Sunday will receive a FREE commemorative bracelet with the inscription, “Firefighter Appreciation Day,” and the date.
Firefighters will also be recognized during pre-event ceremonies on Sunday prior to the green flag being dropped for the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County.
There will also be a parade lap around the world famous road course by fire trucks and emergency response vehicles, as well as notable firefighters and dignitaries. Race fans can also visit the special firefighter display booth, which will feature donation buckets for those who would like to contribute.
Firefighters and their families can purchase discounted tickets for Firefighter Appreciation Day. CLICK HERE for more information about the discounts.
For months we have had a special link on the side of this blog that links to and shows an excerpt from the Zion Helitack blog. During this fire season they have not posted frequently, because it can be difficult to find an Internet connection on a dusty helibase.
But it turns out that one of the people on the Zion crew, Michael, was in a helicopter headed to the helispot where the accident occurred on the Iron 44 fire about the time the helicopter crashed, and played an important role in coordinating the numerous helicopters involved in various tasks related to helicopter water drops and rescue of the injured.
Michael wrote a compelling account that you should read, HERE.
The U.S. Forest Service has identified the USFS employee who died in the crash. It is 64-year old Jim Ramage, a resident of Redding, California, who has been a helicopter pilot for over 20 years. He was serving as a “check pilot” on the helicopter when it crashed. A check pilot rides along on a aircraft to affirm the skills and capabilities of the pilot. This can be done on a regular recurring basis, or to certify that the pilot has the necessary ability to perform specific tasks, such as water bucket drops, repelling, aerial ignition, or external loads. Ramage worked for CalFire as a helicopter pilot before transferring to the USFS. He was planning on retiring soon and had planned a trip to China with his family.
That leaves one person who died in the crash that has still not been named, a firefighter for Grayback Forestry.
============================== 9:23 a.m., August 8
The names of most of the victims of the helicopter crash on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California have been released.
INJURED
William Coultas, 44, Cave Junction, Ore. Pilot for Carson Helicopters of Grants Pass, Ore. Critical condition at UC Davis Medical Center with burns over a third of his body.
Michael Brown, 20, Medford, Ore. Firefighter with Grayback Forestry of Merlin, Ore. Good condition at UC Davis with facial burns and fractures.
Jonathan Frohreich, 18, Medford, Ore. Grayback firefighter. Good condition at UC Davis.
Rich Schroeder, 42, Medford, Ore. Grayback firefighter. Fair condition at Mercy Hospital in Redding.
* The first six were Grayback firefighters. The names of one Grayback employee and a U.S. Forest Service employee who were killed have not been released pending notification of their families.
Rich Schroedersuffered a cracked scapula, fractured vertebra, and cuts and bruises. He called his mother who told the San Francisco Chronicle what he remembered of the crash.
The helicopter had just returned from ferrying 13 other firefighters back to the base camp, he said. Schroeder clicked his seat belt, and the helicopter started rising from a clearing.
Somewhere between 200 and 300 feet off the ground, he heard what no air passenger ever wants to hear – the pilot yelling in panic.
Schroeder looked out the window in the split second of freefall and thought he saw the craft crashing through branches. In a second, he was on the ground, trapped under burning metal and a body.
He was injured but was able to push away the body – which was on fire – and wriggle out of his seat belt. The only way out was through a broken window. He smashed the window to make more room and crawled out to escape the flames. Three others made it out.
“Whoever landed on top of him, that’s what saved his life,” Parks said.
“He didn’t hear any sound before it happened – he said the whole thing was over in a flash of an eye,” Parks said.
Gary Robb, an attorney who represents victims of helicopter crashes, said helicopters account for 10 to 12 percent of all aircraft flights in the United States, yet are responsible for almost 50 percent of all crashes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.. He said this is possibly the worst non-military helicopter crash in U.S. history
The recovery of the bodies and the investigation of the crash are being delayed by the wildland fire on three sides of the crash site. In addition, the fire caused by the helicopter going down with a full load of fuel burned through Thursday morning.
The LA Times has more information about the crash.
“Two survivors escaped the aircraft, and when they were able to get out of the aircraft, they were on fire,” said Kitty Higgins, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. “The third escaped under his own power and did go back in to rescue and pull out the fourth survivor.”
Higgins said that about 30 firefighters and support personnel watched as the helicopter with 13 occupants and a full tank of fuel took off from a remote “helispot” at about 6,000 feet elevation at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, traveled about 150 yards and crashed, bursting into flames.
The bodies and wreckage of the Sikorsky S-61, operated by Carson Helicopters, remain at the site.
At an afternoon news conference here, about 35 miles from the crash site, Trinity County Undersheriff Eric Palmer described a confused and difficult aftermath that stretched for hours.
About a half hour after the crash, the U.S. Forest Service called the Sheriff’s Department to report the accident, initially saying that 16 people were on board and none had died. “This information later turned out to be inaccurate,” Palmer said.
About six hours later, the fire service command team for the Iron Complex fire called, he said, and reported that nine people were unaccounted for. Sheriff’s personnel did not get to the site until 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
A federal investigation into the cause of the crash began Thursday, with members of the safety board, Forest Service and Federal Aviation Administration meeting in the morning, along with representatives from Carson Helicopters, Sikorsky Helicopters and General Electric, which manufactured the aircraft’s engine.
Higgins said that investigators would look for the helicopter’s voice data recorder, but she said she could not guarantee its usefulness because of the extensive fire damage.
One of the survivors, Michael Brown, 20, of Medford, Ore., said in a telephone interview Thursday from his hospital bed in Sacramento that his crew was pulling out of the area at the time of the crash because a lightning storm was fast approaching.
“All I can remember is lining up with my bag in one hand and my chain saw in the other,” Brown said, noting that he climbed into the helicopter and took a seat behind the pilot. He believes his spot on the aircraft may have saved his life because the pilot also survived.
“I had flashes of rotors hitting trees and we started to go down,” Brown said, but added that he was not certain if the accident actually happened that way or if he imagined it, because his memory is unclear.
Another survivor, Richard Schroeder, 42, also of Medford, said in a phone interview Wednesday night from his hospital room in Redding that it seemed that the helicopter’s rotor hit a tree as it was taking off. He also said he may have been saved by sitting up front.
Two northern California television stations have online videos about the crash. KRCR has several, including views of the crash site, and KHSL also has reports.
Here is a 1.5 minute video from AP about the crash.
Grayback Forestry has set up a web site with updated information about the tragedy. By clicking on “Comments” and scrolling to the bottom of the page, you can leave condolence messages. There is also an online “guestbook” operated by the Redding Searchlight newspaper where a person can leave written comments, audio comments, or post photographs.
One of Carson Helicopters S-61s was involved in the fatal crash on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The company has 12 firefighting helicopters, all of which were working on fires in Oregon and California, and 7 other helicopters. Here is some information gathered from the Carson Helicopters web site about the Sikorsky S-61.
Carson’s S-61 FIRE KING is the “perfect” firefighting machine capable of rapidly and accurately delivering a thousand gallons of water per drop. That, coupled with the ability to transport personnel and cargo internally at great speeds and range directly to the fire line, makes the FIRE KING the most versatile fire suppression tool available to Firefighting Agencies today.
Aircraft Performance * 22,000 lb Max Gross Weight * 11,000 lb External Load * 14,000 ft Service Ceiling – 12,000 ft Take Off & Landing * 131 Knot Cruise Speed * 450 Nautical Mile Range * 3.5 Hour Endurance with 30 Minute Reserve
Equipment
* Composite Main Rotor Blades * 15 Passenger Interior * Fire King 1,000 Gallon Fixed Belly Tank * Goodrich Hoist (600 lb) * Stokes Litter * Rescue Basket * Rescue Strop * Rappel Anchor * Rope Assisted Deployment Anchor (R.A.D.) * 11,000 lb Cargo Hook * 63″ Sliding Cargo Door * 900 Gallon Variable Flow Water Bucket * 150′, 100′ & 50′ Synthetic Long Line
Carson Helicopters is a leader in heavy helicopter wildland fire suppression. Since 1991 Carson has flown thousands of incident free hours with a 100% availability and 100% on time arrival.
Here is a 37-second video of a Carson S-61 doing a demonstration water drop in Western Australia.
In April, the FAA issued an “airworthiness directive” regarding Sikorsky S-model helicopters after one developed fatigue failures in the main rotor shaft. Carson Helicopters was among the companies alerted to the problem.
The FAA also outlined a list of actions to “prevent structural failure, loss of power to the main rotor, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.” Carson filed comments in May, saying it had been six months since the company had ordered some of the relevant parts from Sikorsky and they were expected to arrive this month.
Further information released by the U.S. Forest Service and the FAA reveals that in addition to the 4 injured reported earlier, 9 additional firefighters that were on the helicopter are missing and presumed dead. This is a very sad day and our thoughts are with the families and coworkers of those involved.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
(08-06) 16:23 PDT REDDING – — In what might be one of the deadliest firefighting incidents in U.S. history, nine firefighters are presumed dead and four were seriously injured after their helicopter went down Tuesday night after battling a blaze in remote Trinity County, northwest of Redding, authorities said today.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration both dispatched teams to the crash site in a remote, wooded area near Junction City, about 215 miles northwest of Sacramento.
The U.S. Forest Service said that one individual was confirmed dead and eight are unaccounted for. It was unclear whether those unaccounted for had simply not yet been identified. The Federal Aviation Administration indicated there were 13 people on board the aircraft and told a fire service that there were nine fatalities.
Cynthia Sage, with the U.S. Forest Service, said the accident happened about 7:45 p.m. as the helicopter was ferrying firefighters back to a staging area after they had been working on the Trinity fire.
She said medical evacuation personnel responded to the scene, but they could not get the people with injuries out until around 9:30 p.m. because the crash was in a very remote location.
“We would like to ask the public to keep their thoughts and prayers for the fire personnel involved and the families,” Sage said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the Sikorsky S-61 chopper was destroyed by fire after crashing “under unknown circumstances” in a remote mountain location. The nine were presumably killed in the fire that destroyed the helicopter, Gregor said.
The aircraft had a crew of two, both employees of Carson Helicopters of Grants Pass, Ore., and was carrying 11 firefighters. The pilot is among the injured and the co-pilot is listed as missing and presumed dead.
The four injured firefighters were transported to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, Air National Guard spokeswoman Capt. Alyson M. Teeter said.
Mercy Medical Center spokesman Michael Burke said three of the firefighters have been transferred to UC-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, two in critical condition and one in serious condition. One of the firefighters remains at Mercy in serious condition, Burke said.
The Buckhorn Fire the crew had been fighting is 25 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. It’s burned 17,755 acres. It’s one of several fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest caused by lightning strikes. All told fires that have been raging since June 21 have consumed more than 86,000 acres of grass, brush and trees.
The firefighters worked for a private contracting company, Greyback Forestry, headquartered in Merlin, Ore. No one from Greyback was available for comment. Greyback lost four firefighters in 2002 when the van they were in overturned on its way to fight a fire in Colorado.
Tuesday’s crash was the worst involving firefighting aircraft in history, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. In 1972, seven firefighters perished in a crash in the Los Padres National Forest.
“I’ve flown a lot of helicopters and they’ve all been really safe,” said Ken Palmrose, spokesman for the fire center. “Fatalities involving aircraft are rare.”
The deadliest firefighting incident was the attack on the World Trade Centers on Sept. 11, when 340 firefighters lost their lives. According to the National Fire Protection Association, other deadly accidents include a 1994 incident in which 14 firefighters died while battling a wildfire in Glenwood Springs, Colo. In 1984, 10 firefighters were killed in an oil refinery fire in Romeoville, Ill.
Between 1990 and 2006, California had the highest number of wildland firefighter deaths in the nation – 64, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Colorado was second at 25, followed by Texas with 19. Prior to Wednesday’s crash, the next deadliest incident in California was the October 2006 Esperanza Fire that killed five federal firefighters.
Bob Madden, spokesman for the Carson Helicopters, the company that owns the downed aircraft, said the pilot and co-pilot work for Carson Helicopters, he said, and they were transporting 11 firefighters at the time of the crash.
Madden said preliminary indications suggested that neither weather nor visibility should have played a role in the crash.
He said the company has 12 helicopters working in firefighting capacities around the country. The company uses a military-style Sikorsky S61 heavy helicopter, which is outfitted to carry water or fire-retardant chemicals to drop on a fire, and also to act as transportation for people and supplies. But the aircraft can only perform one of those missions at a time, Madden said. The helicopter can carry up to 15 passengers.
A Sikorsky S-61A owned and operated by Carson Helicopters crashed and burst into flames during a logging operation in Tennessee in March 2003, killing the 56-year-old pilot and seriously injuring the co-pilot, NTSB records show. Investigators blamed the crash on the malfunction of a component that was overdue for repair, and on the pilot flying too low to avert the crisis.
Madden said this was the first time one of the company’s helicopters have crashed while working a wildland fire.
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.
One report said the crash happened about 100 feet from a helispot.
From the Redding Searchlight:
The three contract firefighters injured in Tuesday night’s helicopter crash in Trinity County have been identified by their company.
Eight firefighters and one helicopter crew member are missing and believed dead, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
The injured, all Grayback Forestry Inc. employees, are Jonathan Frohreich, 18; Rick Schoeder, 42; and Michael Brown, 20, company spokeswoman Leslie Habetier said this afternoon. They are believed to be from Medford, Ore. Grayback is located in Merlin, Ore.
Frohreich is in critical condition at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Brown is in serious condition at Davis, and Schoeder is in serious condition at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.
The helicopter pilot who was injured and taken to UC Davis has not been identified.
KGO-TV in San Francisco reports that the pilot’s name is William Coultas, information that previously was not available. He is in critical condition in the burn unit at the U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
Three of the four firefighters that survived a helicopter crash in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, were taken to the U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
One firefighter’s condition has been upgraded from serious to fare condition. Three of the four survivors are at the U.C. Davis Medical Center.
William Coultas, the pilot of the helicopter, is in critical condition in the burn unit. Jonathan Frohreich, a contract firefighter is also in critical condition. Michael Brown is also a contract firefighter, was in critical condition, but has now been upgraded to fair condition.
HERE is a link to a video report about the incident by NBC news.
HERE is a link to news releases by the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. If you click on the “Audio Link” at the site it will download and play an .mp3 recording of the Forest Supervisor’s news conference about the incident.
Earlier we posted information (including a map) about the funeral arrangements for Gert “Jerry” Marais who was the pilot of the air tanker that crashed on the fire near Fort Carson in Colorado on April 15. Any fire personnel that wish to officially participate or who will have apparatus at the funeral should contact Fort Benton, Montana Fire Chief Pat Hultin at 622-5822 (work) or 788-0721 (cell).
Condolences can be sent to Mrs. Esme Marais, PO Box 1291, Fort Benton, MT 59422.
Photo of single engine air tanker on the Alabaugh fire, South Dakota, July 7, 2007 by Bill Gabbert.
