Oregon firefighters injured in deadly helicopter crash in California
This image from the InciWeb photo page for the Iron Complex wildfire where the accident occurs shows a helicopter that matches the body style and colors of the helicopter that crashed Tuesday. By TERENCE CHEA and MARCUS WOHLSEN Associated Press WritersSAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Nine people are missing and feared dead in a helicopter crash in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Wednesday. Four people were injured, including three from Grayback Forestry of Merlin, Ore, and the helicopter pilot. Michael Brown, 20, and Jonathan Frohreich, 18, were transported to the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Rick Schroeder, 42, was admitted to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, Cal. The condition and extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.
Mike Wheelock, founder and owner of Grayback Forestry, said he was in Sacramento handling notification of families of his employees. He would not confirm any deaths. The helicopter, identified by federal officials as FAA registration N612AZ, was owned and operated by Carson Helicopters Inc., 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. Madden said the helicopter's two co-pilots were Carson employees — one was hospitalized and the other was among the missing. The company would not release their names until officials confirmed their identities and notified family members. The crash happened Tuesday night as the helicopter was transporting firefighters battling a wildfire north of Junction City, Calif. Firefighters who were waiting to be picked up helped rescue the four injured people after the helicopter crashed around 7:30 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. The helicopter was carrying 11 firefighters and two crew members when it went down, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board. Four people have been taken to the hospital with severe burns, including two in critical condition, according to the U.S. Forest Service. FAA spokesman Gregor said the Sikorsky S-61 chopper was destroyed by fire after crashing "under unknown circumstances" in a remote mountain location. FAA and NTSB investigators were headed to the scene. The nine were presumably killed in the fire that destroyed the helicopter, Gregor said. Two of the injured were airlifted in critical condition to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Forest Service spokesman Mike Odle said Wednesday. The other two were taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding in serious condition, he said. The firefighters had been working at the north end of a more than 27-square-mile fire burning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, part of a larger complex of blazes that total 135 square miles. The complex of fires in the Shasta-Trinity forest was about 87 percent contained. Before Tuesday's crash, three firefighters had been killed while on duty in California this year, including one firefighter also assigned to battle the Shasta-Trinity blazes who was killed late last month by a falling tree. On July 2, a volunteer firefighter in Mendocino County died of heart attack on the fire line. Another firefighter from Washington state was killed July 26 in Siskiyou County when he was burned while scouting a fire. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press |
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