DAMMERON VALLEY, Washington County — A pilot helping to contain the Dammeron Complex Fire died after his single-engine air tanker crashed and burst into flames at approximately 6 p.m. Thursday.
One witness said he was watching the pilot's yellow aircraft as it dropped fire retardant when something obviously went wrong.
"I was kind of thinking that he was flying low, real low, and it was kind of a risky thing to do when he went down," said Josh Conklin, 20. Conklin said his mother called 911 and his father ran several blocks to the Dammeron Valley fire station to alert people there of the accident.
The pilot had just dropped his load and was pulling up and out when he made a quick turn and then went into a nosedive, Conklin said.
"He went down really, really fast. He just hit the side of the mountain and burst into a fireball," he said. "It was pretty traumatic to see."
The name of the pilot is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, said David Boyd, fire information officer for the Color Country region.
The Department of Interior's Aviation Management Directorate will participate in the crash investigation, which is being coordinated with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, Boyd said.
The aircraft was one of two contract single-engine air tankers being used to suppress the Dammeron Complex Fire. Single-engine air tankers are crop-dusting planes that have been converted to drop water or retardant on wildfires.
"They play a critical role in fire suppression due to their maneuverability," Boyd stated in a press release about the crash.
Cool, cloudy weather helped more than 100 firefighters and aircraft keep the Dammeron Complex Fire in check overnight, he added.
The Dammeron Complex Fire actually consists of two fires ignited by lightning Wednesday night.
One fire in the community of Brookside was held at less than 100 acres and declared contained on Thursday. A second, larger fire burned 3,600 acres near the rural community of Dammeron Valley. While that fire continues to burn, no homes are currently threatened.
E-mail: nperkins@infowest.com