{"id":2642354,"date":"2026-08-09T10:38:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T14:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pilots-of-helicopter-that-crashed-while-fighting-wildfire-in-utah-are-dead-officials-say\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T10:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T14:39:44","slug":"pilots-of-helicopter-that-crashed-while-fighting-wildfire-in-utah-are-dead-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pilots-of-helicopter-that-crashed-while-fighting-wildfire-in-utah-are-dead-officials-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilots of helicopter that crashed while fighting wildfire in Utah are dead, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpilots-of-helicopter-that-crashed-while-fighting-wildfire-in-utah-are-dead-officials-say%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2642354&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>two helicopter pilots from Helicopter Transport Services, contracted by the U.S. Forest Service, died when their Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter crashed while fighting a wildfire in Utah\u2019s Fishlake national Forest. The crash also caused a new fire to ignite, which has contributed to a nearly 174-square-mile blaze. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >accident occurred amid difficult conditions due<\/a> to ongoing wildfires in the western United States, including fires near Spokane and Oregon, and also outbreaks in British Columbia, Canada, prompting evacuations for thousands of residents. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, which may take over a year to determine the cause. Firefighters continue efforts to contain the fires and manage the damage caused by the recent wildfires in the region.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two helicopter pilots who crashed while they were fighting a wildfire in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/utah\/\">Utah<\/a> are dead, officials confirmed Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pilots were killed when their Sikorsky Skycrane\u00a0helicopter went down\u00a0Friday morning, according to the Sevier County sheriff.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4680353\/helicopter-crash-deaths-utah-wildfire\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Pilots of helicopter that crashed while fighting wildfire in Utah are dead, officials say<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4649286\/september-social-security-direct-payment-worth-994-goes-out-23-days\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>September Social Security direct payment worth $994 goes out in 23 days<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4649218\/first-round-august-social-security-payments-goes-out-three-days\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>First round of August Social Security payments goes out in three days<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The helicopter was among those <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wildfires\/\">fighting a fire<\/a> in the Fishlake National Forest. The crash ignited a new fire that spread to connect with the existing blaze, which has now scorched nearly 174 square miles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials did not identify the pilots but said they were employed by Helicopter Transport Services, which was contracted by the U.S. Forest Service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Initially, officials said they were unable to reach the crash site because of the fire. Then, on Saturday, crews were able to enter the area and confirmed the deaths, according to the Sevier County sheriff and coroner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate once its team can examine the wreckage. It will likely take the NTSB a year or more to determine the cause.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Numerous fires were also burning in other parts of the West, including one that closed part of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Park Service shut down access to the Sunrise and White River areas of the park after a new wildfire burned less than a third of a square mile. Firefighters were working to gain control of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Larger\u00a0fires near Spokane, Washington, have now burned more than 15.63 square miles, but firefighters constructed more than 75 miles of containment line to help control\u00a0those flames.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, in Oregon, hot and dry conditions helped an uncontrolled fire spread beyond 30 square miles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/4680260\/british-columbia-wildfire-20000-evacuate\/#google_vignette\">A FAST-MOVING WILDFIRE FORCES MORE THAN 20,000 PEOPLE TO EVACUATE IN WESTERN CANADA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Firefighters were still trying to identify the best places to set up containment lines around the\u00a0Wrights Spring fire\u00a0as they mourned the death of 47-year-old Jason Ensign, who was killed while\u00a0operating a bulldozer\u00a0for a timber company. The blaze grew rapidly Thursday and cut off Ensign\u2019s escape route.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And north of the border in British Columbia, more than 20,000 people\u00a0had to evacuate\u00a0ahead of another fast-moving wildfire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Utah wildfire: Two helicopter pilots die in crash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2642355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26220780554032.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50695,83889,49489,83888,83887],"class_list":["post-2642354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-aviation-accident","tag-emergency-responders","tag-helicopter-crash","tag-utah-news","tag-wildfire-firefighting"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26220780554032.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2642354"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2642358,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642354\/revisions\/2642358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2642355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2642354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2642354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2642354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}