CBC Report
Helicopter pilot dies fighting B.C. wildfires
KAMLOOPS, B.C.
- Emergency crews in the British Columbia Interior plan to find a way through raging wildfires on Monday to reach a helicopter that crashed on Sunday afternoon.
The pilot of the helicopter, whose name hasn't been released by police, was killed in the crash 80 kilometres east of 100 Mile House.
The Bell 205 chopper owned by Gemini Helicopters in Alberta was fighting the Bonaparte Lake fire, north of Kamloops. It crashed shortly after taking off.
Nearly 900 fires were burning in the province by Monday.
The McGillivray fire grew to 20 square kilometres by Sunday afternoon forcing about 500 people to flee their homes in Chase, about 50 kilometres east of Kamloops.
Fire information officer Jim McBride said the fire could threaten all the homes in Chase, a town of about 2,600.
Elsewhere, about 450 people were allowed to return to their homes north of Barriere on Sunday, but were told an evacuation alert is still in effect.
The McLure-Barriere fire was about 40 per cent contained, B.C. Fire Service officials said on Sunday. The fire has grown to about 220 square kilometres. Nearly 900 people remain out of their homes. The fires have been burning in the Interior for weeks, fueled by tinder dry forests and hot dry weather.
100 Mile House is located at mile 100 on the "Old Cariboo Gold Rush Trail", South Cariboo in the Province of British Columbia.
excerpt from Canada.com report
A Mission pilot died Sunday when the helicopter he was flying crashed while fighting raging forest fires in the B.C. Interior -- the first fatality among those fighting the blaze.
The helicopter went down about 11 a.m. near Bonaparte Lake, north of Kamloops, after lifting off from a staging area with a long line and bucket.
"Witnesses saw it take off and then saw the helicopter bank quite rapidly. They lost sight of it along the horizon and heard an explosion," said RCMP spokesman Corporal Pierre Lemaitre.
The name of the pilot has not been released as police have not yet been able to notify his next of kin. Police have also not been able to determine the pilot's age.
Lemaitre said police and rescue officials tried to reach the downed helicopter, but the fires in the area made recovering the pilot's body impossible.
"Given the conditions, it was impossible to get close to the helicopter," he said. "We'll get a little closer in the morning."
The privately owned helicopter was on contract to fight forest fires. The copter, a Bell 205, was owned by Gemini Helicopters of Alberta.
The pilot's death is being investigated by the Clinton RCMP detachment, the B.C. coroner's service, the ministry of forestry and the ministry of transportation.