“The lone occupant of a firefighting plane that crashed Friday afternoon [May 22, 2015] in northern Alberta has died, a company spokesman confirmed.
Jeff Berry of Conair Aerial Firefighting told Postmedia Network that the plane, an AT-802 Fireboss amphibious water bomber, crashed just after 4:30 p.m. MDT, about 40 km north of Cold Lake near the Saskatchewan border.
Crews are fighting an out-of-control 300 ha wildfire in the area, in the vicinity of Burnt Lake, Alta., near the CFB Cold Lake’s weapons range and an Imperial Oil facility.
Berry said the 37-year old pilot was no stranger to fighting wildfires.
“This was his fourth season, so he was well-experienced,” Berry said.
Berry said the single-seater plane was relatively new, built in 2009.
File photo of one of Conair’s AT-802F Fire Boss air tankers. Photo by Peter Unmuth.
He expressed his condolences to the friends and family of the pilot, and expressed his gratitude to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) and Cold Lake Search and Rescue for their quick response.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada was sending an investigation team, expected to arrive Saturday morning, TSB spokesman Julie Leroux confirmed.
Cold Lake is about 230 km northeast of Edmonton.”
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Our sincere condolences go out to the the pilot’s family, friends, and to Conair.
The fire is in the Cold Lake Weapons Range, 40 km (25 miles) north of Cold Lake near Burnt Lake, and has burned approximately 3000 hectares (7400 acres).
Catherine J. Hibbard is a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Northeast Regional Office. She is the lead public information officer for the Southern Area Red Team, an incident management team that responds to the most complex incidents such as wildfires and hurricanes. This article about the March 30 helicopter crash in Mississippi first appeared on the USFWS blog.
I know when the call comes, it will be bad, but I never know how bad. On March 30, it was the worst. A helicopter working a controlled burn on the De Soto National Forest in Mississippi had crashed, killing pilot Brandon Ricks and front seat passenger Steve Cobb and seriously injuring backseat passenger Brendan Mullen.
Friends and family gather to celebrate the life of Steve Cobb. Credit: Catherine J. Hibbard/USFWS.
On the morning of March 31, I drove out of a driveway still banked with snow. It was 38 degrees. The daughter of a long line of crusty Yankees, even I had had enough of the Massachusetts winter.
I landed in Mobile, Alabama, and realized that I had been catapulted into spring. With my U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raincoat, fleece jacket and long-sleeved uniform shirt, I was overdressed.
A somber assignment loomed, but life was bursting everywhere in spectral light: pink azaleas and green, green and more green. The smell of freshly cut grass brought me back to when I was a girl watching my father mow the lawn.
My teammates trickled into the command post. Some of them had known Steve Cobb, a local Forest Service employee. “I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent in that passenger seat,” at least four of them said.
I saw Art Canterbury, a fellow Northeast Region employee. “This is the first assignment I’ll be away from my family for Easter,” said Art. “Usually I’d stay home, but this is different.”
Art Canterbury, a fire management officer at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and Catherine Hibbard were among five U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees responding to the De Soto Aviation Incident. Credit: USFWS.
Our job was to provide support to the co-workers and family of Steve Cobb so they could mourn their loss. We helped provide logistical support for visitation and funeral services. Brandon Ricks was from Oklahoma, so his body was sent home to his family.
Visitation was on Good Friday. I and other information officers were strategically stationed to guide any media who showed up. A cold front was moving in, but the afternoon sun spurted through clouds to cast a warm glow on a steady stream of mourners.
“Can I park here?” asked an older man in a grey pickup truck with cut brush in the bed. He wore a loud, pinstriped suit that was two sizes too big. “Steve was a good man, a good man,” he said. “I’m sorry you lost a friend,” I replied.
“I lost my wife two years ago. I miss her. I‘d like to hang out with someone else, but you know, I like my own space! You look nice. Who do you work for?” “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” “Oh, that’s a good job, a good job. You keep that job! I still cry for my wife. Yes, Steve was a good man. . .”
Another pickup truck pulled up. A young man got out and asked where he could bring some baby “possums.” He must have seen the patch on my uniform. “I don’t want them to die,” he said. He opened the lid on a box in the pickup bed to expose about a dozen young opossums nestled inside. My heart sank as I looked at the helpless creatures, somehow separated from their mother by no choice of their own.
The next morning a curtain of morning rain clouds lifted to a glorious spring day. I stood outside the church with a reporter who recorded the funeral service taking place inside, but broadcast through speakers to the church steps outside. Steve’s supervisor eulogized him: “35,000 Forest Service employees mourn today . . .”
“. . .and many more from the wildland firefighting community,” I thought. I closed my eyes to let the sun warm my face. The air smelled of drying mud. A cardinal and a jay sang. I opened my eyes and saw a bird fly up to a nest in the arch above the church stairs.
Red Team Incident Commander Mike Dueitt of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (kneeling in red shirt) was a friend of Steve Cobb. His team’s service honored the fallen firefighters. Credit: USFWS.
After the funeral, a reporter interviewed one of Steve’s friends, a fellow Forest Service employee. “That could have been any of us up there,” he said. The reporter asked him if he wanted to say anything more. “I loved him. I’ll miss him.” My eyes welled up with tears. I knew that this heartfelt statement was the gem that every reporter hopes for. But the reporter’s camera had failed. He asked if they could do the interview again.
Steve’s friend graciously agreed. I kicked the dirt knowing that the reporter could never get that statement back again. One moment he had great footage and the next it was gone.
During this Public Service Recognition week, I think of Steve and Brandon who gave their lives in public service while doing jobs they loved. And of Brendan Mullen who courageously tried to save his colleagues despite being critically injured himself. He faces a long road to recovery.
I think of how vulnerable we are, how things can change in a minute and the fine line between life and death. I think how lucky I am to work at a job I love (to the man in the pinstriped suit: “Yes, I’ll keep this job!”)
And finally, I think of how proud I am to be a public servant for an agency that supports helping others in their time of need. Because at some point, we all need a rejuvenating spring after a long, hard winter.
AUSTIN, Texas — A nurse died after falling from a hoist on a medical helicopter while rescuing a woman from a hiking trail in Austin, emergency personnel said Tuesday.
Kristin McLain, 46, became detached from the hoist Monday night as the rescued hiker was lifted to the EC-145 helicopter from the Barton Creek Greenbelt where she had taken a fall, according to a STAR Flight news release.
McLain died at the scene. STAR Flight did not release any information about why or how far she fell. The company uses four helicopters for rescues and emergency transport in Travis County.
Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for Travis County Emergency Services, had few details on the circumstances of McLain’s death. She said the hoist is an arm that extends off the helicopter that allows rescuers to direct a carrier to a patient and that “typically a rescuer will go with that carrier.”
Photo of Kristin McLain posted at STAR Flight Hangar, via KXAN
Our sincere condolences go out to the family and co-workers of Kristin McLain.
Two firefighters died when a helicopter crashed in South Africa on April 22, killing the pilot Darrel Rea (39) and crewmember Jastun Visagie (23).
A company spokesperson said, “While landing at the fire scene in strong winds the Bell UH-1H (Huey) impacted a mountainside in Bain’s Kloof close to Wellington”. They were landing in order to configure the helicopter to drop water.
Working on Fire Aviation CEO Johan Heine said: “We are saddened by the loss of a very experienced pilot and crew member and wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to families as well as colleagues and the firefighting fraternity”.
“Mr Rea‚ who was the chief pilot for WoF Aviation‚ had total helicopter flying time experience in excess of 3‚300 hours and had worked for WoF Aviation for the last eight years. All WoF pilots are recruited‚ selected and trained to the highest international standards‚” Heine said. Visagie joined Working on Fire in 2013.
WoF Aviation has been engaged in Aerial Fire Fighting in South Africa since 1986.
According to their website, WoF is a government-funded, job-creation program focusing on Intergrated Fire Management in South Africa. WoF fire fighters are recruited from marginalised communities and trained in fire awareness and education, prevention and fire suppression skills. These young men and women form veld and forest fire fighting ground crews, stationed at bases around the country to help stop the scourge of wildfire which costs the South African economy billions of rands annually.
Our sincere condolences go out to the families and co-workers of Mr. Rea and Mr. Visagie.
Inmate Firefighter Raymond Araujo suffered a heart attack while engaged in a training exercise on the Morongo Indian Reservation near Banning, California on April 13. The 37-year old firefighter succumbed to his injury after being airlifted to a base camp where he was treated by CAL FIRE and Riverside County Fire Department medics.
The incident occurred in Hathaway Canyon on the Morongo Indian Reservation near Banning, California.
Funeral services were held Saturday for the two firefighters who were killed in the March 30 crash of a helicopter that was being used on a prescribed fire in southern Mississippi.
Below is an excerpt from an article at WLOX:
WIGGINS, MS (WLOX) – First Baptist Church in Wiggins has a capacity of 300 people. For Steve Cobb’s memorial service on Saturday, there were 500 in the sanctuary.
This followed the more than 1,000 who attended the four-hour visitation on Friday.
People came from all over the state and country to find comfort and encouragement from one another and to try to understand how the long-time U.S. Forest Service employee died too soon.
The funeral service for pilot Brandon Ricks was also held Saturday in his hometown of Blanchard, Oklahoma.
The lone survivor, Brendan Mullen, continues to recover at the University of South Alabama Medical Center’s burn unit in Mobile.
The investigation into the crash by multiple agencies will likely last months if not a year or more.
Many attending the service were members of the U.S. Forest Service. The service was broadcast outside the church so that the message of his legacy could be heard loud and clear to everyone.
Below is information released by the incident management team that is helping to manage the helicopter crash incident in Mississippi.
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On Monday, March 30, 2015, a helicopter assisting with a controlled burn on the De Soto National Forest crashed killing two firefighters and injuring a third. Killed were Brandon Ricks, 40, of Oklahoma, a pilot for T&M Aviation of Abbeville, Louisiana and Steve Cobb, 55, of Wiggins, Mississippi, an engineering technician for De Soto National Forest. Injured was Brendan Mullen, 42, a supervisory forestry technician from Helena National Forest in Montana.
Our hearts go out to the families and friends of Brandon Ricks and Steve Cobb and we wish a rapid recovery for Brendan Mullen. Cards or letters of support to the Cobb family can be sent to De Soto Ranger District at 654 West Frontage Road. Wiggins, MS 39577. We will post information on how to send condolences to the Ricks family when we receive it.
Brendan Mullen is recovering with burns on approximately 15 percent of his body. He is stable and will require skin grafts. Cards and letters of support for him can be sent to Helena National Forest, ATTN: Helena Aviation Center, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59602. You can also follow his progress and wish him well at CaringBridge.
The Regional Forester arrived to meet with Desoto District employees. Critical Response Protocol Teams arrived to assist employees. ASC Benefits Counselors have been assigned to assist affected employees/families. The helicopter fuselage has been removed from the site. The Southern Area (Red) Type 1 Incident Management Team is providing facilitation/coordination and information flow between the Critical Stress Protocol Teams and Forest employees.
The Team will continue to provide facilitation, coordination, and information flow between the National Forests in Mississippi and the Desoto Ranger District with the National Transportation Safety Board, Critical Response Protocol Teams, Albuquerque Service Center and local law enforcement, fire department and affected businesses. The Red Team will initiate planning for memorial service tentatively scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4.
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(Originally published at 11:48 a.m. MDT, April 1, 2015)
In addition to the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, Stephanie Johnson, a spokesperson for the U. S. Forest Service, said the agency has dispatched three teams to manage the helicopter crash incident in southern Mississippi on the Desoto National Forest.
Two were killed in the crash, pilot Brandon Wicks of T & M Aviation, and Stephen W. Cobb of the USFS. Supervisory Forestry Technician Brendan Mullen of the USFS was injured and transported to a hospital.
A short version of Mike Dueitt’s Type 1 Incident Management Team was ordered on March 30. Typically on an incident like this an IMT will handle operational details, as well as work with the families of the victims to plan the final arrangements including in some cases a memorial service that might be attended by a large number of people.
A Critical Response Protocol team will be reviewing the accident to determine if there are any lessons to be learned.
And finally, a Critical Incident Stress team will assist employees and others in recovering emotionally from the tragedy.
The victims in Monday’s helicopter crash have been identified. WLOX reports that the Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove said the pilot, Brandon Ricks, 40, of Oklahoma died of smoke inhalation. The other man killed in the crash, Steven W. Cobb, 55, of Wiggins died of multiple blunt force trauma.
Mr. Hargrove said Mr. Cobb worked for the U.S. Forest Service and Mr. Ricks worked for T & M Aviation out of Oklahoma.
U.S. Forest Service Supervisory Forestry Technician Brendan Mullen was injured and transported from the site to a hospital by helicopter.
The firefighters were working on a prescribed fire in southern Mississippi on the Desoto National Forest about 25 miles northwest of Biloxi.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released a statement on Tuesday, saying, “The loved ones and colleagues of Brendan, Steve, and Brandon Ricks, who also lost his life in the crash, are in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. On behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture, I thank them for risking their lives to protect us, our homes and natural resources.”
Two people were killed and one was injured March 30 when a helicopter crashed while working on a prescribed fire on the Desoto National Forest in southern Mississippi.
A helicopter crashed in southern Mississippi on March 30, 2015, killing two people who were working on a prescribed fire. Mario Rossilli, spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, said one of the deceased worked for the USFS and the other was the pilot of the helicopter under contract with the USFS. The person that was injured was also a USFS employee. Their names have not been released.
This video has a little more information than the one we posted on Monday.
Originally published at 9:03 p.m. CDT, March 30, 2015 Two people were killed and one was injured March 30 when a helicopter crashed while working on a prescribed fire on the Desoto National Forest in southern Mississippi. Below is an excerpt from NBC news:
The helicopter, a Bell 206L-1, went down about 3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) near Saucier, about 25 miles northwest of Biloxi, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed. The NTSB said it would lead the investigation. “We do have two confirmed fatalities,” Harrison County Fire Chief Pat Sullivan told reporters. The third crew member was airlifted to the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile, he said. The men were contract workers who were monitoring a controlled burn of about 800 acres in De Soto National Forest, authorities said.
From WLOX:
An eyewitness told WLOX News he saw the chopper working the fire, and could tell something didn’t seem right. “The helicopter was circling around the fire and within the next couple of minutes I saw it. It was landing on purpose, but it sounded like a little maybe in distress. But then shortly there after a rescue came in and was wanting to know how to get back there,” said Earnest Richardson Junior. “You could tell something was wrong at the end of it, but I didn’t know it was that bad. It kinda looked like he was almost landing for a minute. But like I said, I’m not sure because it circled around the fire. I thought maybe he was trying to land.”
Our sincere condolences go out to their families and co-workers.
Harrison County setting up portable lights for what will be a long night at the site of helicopter crash. pic.twitter.com/3eU3sZiqZs — Steve Phillips (@SPhillipsWLOXTV) March 30, 2015
