Wildfire helicopter crash kills 1, as weather hampers firefighters
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ELKO, Nevada -- The crash of a firefighting helicopter near Elko, Nevada, has killed one person and injured three others, while other firefighters battling about 60 fires raging in nine Western U.S. states continued to be plagued by the weather Friday.
A Bell 206 chopper assigned to a fire northeast of Elko crashed Thursday night shortly after takeoff.
It was not immediately clear whether the person who died in the crash
was in the helicopter or on the ground. At least one of the injured was
a fuel truck driver who ran to help those in the crash, officials said.
Meanwhile, nature was not expected to provide any relief from a U.S. forest fire season described by federal officials as the worst in 50 years.
"It's still going to be hot, with scattered thunderstorms that won't produce much rain," said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen, who predicted similar conditions continuing through the weekend.
About 700,000 acres are burning throughout the West, forcing hundreds of evacuations. About half the scorched acreage is in Idaho, mostly in national forests away from population centers.
"We were warned by weather forecasters that this was going to happen this year," said National Fire Information Officer Bob Valen.
But Friday also brought good news about a recently devastating wildfire that threatened ancient Indian ruins in a U.S. national park.
Mesa Verde National Park was reopening Friday after firefighters contained
a fire that eventually scorched more than 22,950 acres and came within
four miles of sandstone ruins built by the Anasazi Indians hundreds of
years ago.
Possibly no weather break until October
Forecasters warn the kind of break in the weather needed to change the conditions favorable to fires may not occur until October.Officials at the National Interagency Fire Center said so far this year, 61,932 fires have burned across the nation, scorching 3.76 million acres, the highest total since at least the mid-1980s. Over the past 10 years, the average annual number of fires was 53,068, with an average of 1.99 million acres burned.
Assistant Interior Secretary Sylvia Baca called it the worst fire season in 50 years.
"We're thinking this is shaping up to be a reference point for years
to come in terms of its severity," said Baca, who oversees the federal
Bureau of Land Management, which manages 264 million acres of public land
in the West.
Help from Mexico and Australia being considered
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Two California firefighters were listed in serious condition and two others in fair condition at a hospital Thursday, one day after they were caught in a sudden flare up caused by swirling winds from a thunderstorm.
Meanwhile, U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck toured the Idaho and Montana fire lines to review the safety of fire crews.
"There is not a timber stand, grassland or structure that is worth the life of a firefighter or a member of the public," said Dombeck.
After meeting with fire strategists, he also pledged that crews will be given adequate resources, saying, "This is top on our radar screen."
Canadian firefighters are already on the lines in Montana, but U.S. resources have been stretched so thin that fire officials have asked the Canadian government for aerial tankers and additional firefighters.
They are also considering bringing in firefighting crews from Mexico and technical experts from Australia, if conditions don't improve soon.
Already in Idaho, there are 689 Army troops sent from Ft. Hood, Texas,
to help battle three big wildfires. Those troops will be assigned Friday
to mop-up duty on the Burgdorf Junction fire, which has burned 15,562 acres
so far and is 43 percent contained.
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One of the soldiers was injured Thursday during a training exercise with a pickax. He hit his foot with it, cutting the skin and breaking some toes. He was treated and released at a hospital in McCall, 60 miles north of Boise.
The Marines are also coming to the aid of overwhelmed firefighters. On Friday, 500 Marines are expected to arrive from Southern California with some 35 tons of equipment.
The government is spending $15 million a day to support 20,000 civilian
and military firefighters from 46 states and Canada.
Some hot spots
Fire officials say a wildfire in the Cleveland National Forest in California is showing few signs of slowing, after causing nearly $5 million in damage.After not burning for more than a century, portions of the forest are thick with brush, allowing the fire to spread quickly.
Janeen Gardner of the California Department of Forestry said the blaze has scorched 5,722 acres and remains 15-percent contained. Full containment is not expected for at least another week, she said.
"This fire is human-caused, and will likely cause more than $10 million in damage," said Gardner.
In southwestern Montana, nearly 300 families in the scenic Bitterroot
Valley stayed away from their homes as an estimated 90 wildfires blazed
in nearby mountains Thursday.
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Elsewhere, firefighters across Utah battled nearly 55,000 acres of wildfires -- including more than 48,000 acres in the Fishlake National Forest -- as they waited for reinforcements from the Utah National Guard.
Smoke from the dozens of fires hung over the Wasatch Front, nearly obscuring the mountains around Salt Lake City. The smoke boosted ozone concentrations in Salt Lake City to the highest level in more than a decade.
"I don't remember it ever being like this," 15-year resident Kib Jacobson said as he walked downtown. The state issued its fifth consecutive "No Drive Day" for Thursday.
Firefighters in California battling the Manter Fire in the Sequoia National Forest made "substantial" progress Wednesday, with the fire now 54-percent contained. The blaze has now burned 72,730 acres, according to Neil Honeycutt, a spokesman for the governor.
"The structure threat has diminished," said Honeycutt. "This will remain primarily a forest fire."
