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Subscribe to RSSForest fires continue to rage in the Southwest, where two pilots were killed over the weekend when the air tanker they were flying crashed near the Utah-Nevada border. An hour later, another air tanker was forced to make a belly landing outside Reno, Nev., when landing gear malfunctioned. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Updated at 8:10 a.m. ET: An air tanker fighting the White Rock wildfire in southern Utah crashed Sunday afternoon, killing two crew members.
A fire official told NBC News that the crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m. local time in a remote area on the Utah side of the border with Nevada. Iron County Sheriff's deputies reached the scene and confirmed the crew members had died, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported. An investigation team was en route to the location, Chris Hanefeld, PIO for the White Rock fire, told NBC News.
The plane was a P-2V tanker operated by Neptune Aviation Services in Missoula, Mont., a statement from the Bureau of Land Management said.
Earlier, a fire bomber made a successful emergency landing at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Nevada, Reno television station MyNews4.com reported.
In a statement issued Sunday afternoon, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said the "thoughts and prayers of all Nevadans are with the firefighters, the plane crews and their families."
In New Mexico, firefighters battling the state's largest-ever blaze gained ground and officials said they would begin to allow evacuated residents to return home on Monday, Reuters reported.
The Whitewater-Baldy wildfire, which began as two small blazes, is now out control and has blown into the largest wildfire in state history. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
The Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire, which has burned 241,701 acres in the Gila National Forest, is now 17 percent contained with progress being made by the hour, Fire Information Officer Heather O'Hanlon told Reuters.
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Wow...that is tragic...
Yes, Akemi Mokoto, especially when you consider the average age of an air tanker is 50+ years, they just give them new skins and make modifications.
That is so, so sad! These people working to help others and stop this fire. My condolences to the families! Breaks my heart! Why do the good have to go?
Flying wildfire aircraft is one of the most dangerous jobs there is. Our gratitude to those lost and condolences to the families.
You're absolutely right. Its a shame these courageous people are working with planes that are aging and tired. In my region wildfires happen annually. Thankfully there are people like this who step up and do the dangerous work of putting them out. I can only hope this tragedy brings light to the tired and aging fleet of air tankers used around our country.
My condolences to the family and friends.
the Forest Service has mandated that new aerial fire-fighting platforms be developed, but because of deep uncertainty over possible congressional budget cuts they have delayed awarding contracts to new companies to develop new aircraft. without contracts many of these new companies cannot secure the funding they need to get planes into the air. with the cancellation of Aero Union's contract last year and the two crashes today, the USFS is down to only 9 heavy tankers to fight fires nationally. a year ago there were 18. 10 years ago there were more than 40. a lot more brave guys are going to die before things improve. anyone who lives in a state outside of New England has or will experience fire, and you really need to lean on your Congressmen to guarantee funding in upcoming budgets to get this ball rolling. it might be your town burning next week.
Don't have to develop a new aircraft. Just buy CL-415s. Look them up.
CL-415's are scooper aircraft that refill from very large lakes. the USFS uses tankers that can be loaded from the ground with fire retardant at tanker bases placed around the country. fire retardant doesn't evaporate on the way to the ground like water, and it can be used ahead of the fire to cut lines in terrain that ground firefighters cant reach because it lasts for days or even weeks. it is much more flexible to use tankers and retardant than scoopers, which are much more limited in their applications. the Forest Service wants a modern, jet-type plane to be used in the future
That retardant lasts eons it seems like.. We had a pretty good fire here a couple years ago and a tanker was dropping it on the hillside above the highway ahead of the fire.. It is STILL there lol.. The whole area is clay dirt red now.. Though i imagine its lost some effectiveness it sure does stick around..
Very sad to hear this story. I've seen those tanker pilots, flying converted DC-6's back in the '80's, do some amazing high risk flying. Condolences to the families of this aircrew.
first it says; An air tanker fighting the White Rock wildfire in southern Utah crashed Sunday afternoon, killing two crew members.
Then it says; that so and so couldn't confirm the deaths. My question, Why do these news people get so eager to be the first to break news, That they go so far as to say someone is dead, before it's even verified?? Shame on You MSNBC!
Re-read the article: "...Sheriffs Deputies...confirmed the crew members had died..."
Hoodie, the point is the story as originally posted had lots of gray areas. Releasing breaking news is one thing, but using unverified info is simply tacky.
My deepest condolences to the families of the crews. As a pilot I understand the skill and courage it takes to fly these extremely dangerous missions.
At the same time, I hope that these are not the latest casualties of our war on terror. In early May, the al Qaeda magazine Inspire called upon operatives to go out and start forest fires in the U.S. Within days we had fires in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Minnesota and Florida. Is this an attack on us under Obama's watch? If it is, we'll probably not be told.
Good grief! Even a story about the tragic death of two firefighters is simply another opportunity for you to use to make an idiotic, nonsensical partisan political statement?
You must cause a great deal of shame for your family. Congratulations, Troll. "Here's your sign"!
Rest in peace, gallant firefighters.
Rancher if you are in fact a pilot I will give you credit for maybe at least understanding the skill aspect but I'm thinking you probably dont understand the courage aspect. To take something such as this and turn it into something political is pathetic. In case you missed it two people just died doing something they were probably very good at, doing something that they love in service to all of us!! Now dude.... Go get in your little ultralight single seater and try to tell us you know everything about being a professional firefighting pilot who flies air tankers for a living. Do the families of those killed a favor and shove your moronic rambling Obama nonsense. The deal here is like anyone else who serves you and I "The Public" let their families find comfort and healing and may they rest in peace !
Rancher,
Why do you have to take something so tragic, and twist it to your own petty political ramblings? These fine pilots familys don't give a hoot about your President Obama bashing. They just lost their loved ones. I personally find it totally offensive that you feel the need to belittle their deaths in such a way, just to try to make a very insensitive political statement, that has no merit! I am sure that if your dog farted in your living room, you could twist it to be President Obama's fault somehow. Next time you feel the need to hijack a story, try (I know it is asking alot) to feel something for the family who lost their loved ones, and leave your political agenda at home.
Smart enough to be a pilot, but too stupid to know when to keep his bile spewing to himself.
Sad.
But, I am confident the victims families know better than to come to the vine for condolences.
Instead of scorning Rancher and showing your ignorance, why not look it up? I did and he's right; there was exactly such a threat in early May
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/al-qaeda-calls-massive-forest-fires-montana/story?id=16263981
Ridicule me too if you want. Yes, he may have picked a bad forum but he's not wrong
RIP and thanks for the service GOD please be with everyone that will be touched by this especially the families.
If 'god' killed them, why would he be with anyone? I'd think he's just keeping score at this point.
My condolences to the family/families...........RIP
Many people don't realize the USDA Forest Service's fleet of air tankers is more than 50 years old. The planes are so outdated that repairs have become exceedingly costly. Finding parts for them is nearly impossible. Meanwhile, year after year Congress cuts and denies funding to replace the aging fleet. Only in recent months have they begun to develop a strategy to replace them. The strategy should have been finalized years ago. Americans should be outraged that Congress annually gives hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid, while priorities at home are routinely ignored.
Looks like it was a contract company, very few aircraft operated by the Forest Service these days. Look at yearly wildland fire death stats, typically about half are due to aircraft crashes, the rest are mostly heart attacks, car wrecks, and tree cutting accidents. Very few "fire" deaths are actually from the fires...
My dad flew P-2V's back in the Navy, back in the early 50's.
don't speak bad about the P2, flew in the Navy hunting sub's early 60's. Great bird an always will be.
Get CL-415s They are safe and are designed to do one thing, fight fires.
They have to be bought new because no one sells the ones they have.
It is clear you have no idea what you are talking about.
The P-2V (P-2) was a tough old bird but they are getting pretty long in the tooth by now, those being a design from the 1940's and all. I used to watch the P-2V7s fly over my house in the late 50's when I was a kid living near NAS Whidbey. Sorry to hear of the loss of the crew and a good aircraft, as well.
The USDA does not own these aircraft, They are owned and operated by privet companys that contract with the USDA and other government agencies. The contracts don't pay enough for the companys to acquire newer aircraft. It is sad that our government get cheap on the things that really count. I founded and operated a helicopter company that did just this same thing. It's a very hard business to be in, very expensive with little profits.
This is the second aircraft this company has lost in Utah in the last two years. One was CFIT and the other being today. Sad.
Damn.....terrible.
Adding to the tragedy is the loss of a beautiful antique aircraft.
Who cares about that. It is just another heap put out of its misery. The tragedy is 2 lives lost.
Lots of people who care about historic aircraft care about that. Do you know anything about the work it takes to keep a plane flying ("It is just another heap") or are you just running your mouth?
I'm sure that's what the pilot's last thoughts were "Oh no, not the plane."
I can only imagine what a forest fire was like lets say one hundred years ago when there was no equipment and man power to fight them.
About 60 years ago we had a terrible forest fire that took out a forest between 4 towns, back then that was tremendous. The fire trucks were pump, the men did a bucket brigade and the women followed with wet clothes to control the ambers. I wasn't born then, but it is still in the history archives. We have come a long way. Unfortunately it is so hard to keep up with the fires. People lose their lives. This is so sad these pilots crashed. Maybe one day the planes will be updated. There was talk about here in Colorado, but I haven't heard the information discussed for a while.
Not to denigrate these two people who lost their lives fighting this fire in any way, but part of the problem here is civilization encroaching in places it should not be. These fires are part of the life-cycle of the region. Do you know there are varies of firs that will not germinate unless a fire chars their husk?
Much like the Army Corp of Engineers trying to "straighten out" is Mississippi at the beginning of the 20th century, we should examine the cause and effect of these fires then redetermine if this is a place humans should to be living. For anyone that is not aware the efforts of the ACE wreaked havoc on the Mississippi and anyone living near it for years as the river tried to right itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_1910
If you want to have and idea what fighting fires was like 100 years ago read this article. It will give you a very accurate idea. I have been to the mine shaft the firefighters sought refuge in and it was obvious that their survival was incredible.
I am a wildland firefighter I volunteer to do this every year for 3 weeks of my vacation.
The crew of the plane were very brave fighting the fires. May their souls rest in peace. May God give the Strength and Courage to all the Brave Fire Fighters to Put Out the Blazing Fires and help the affected to rebuild their homes. God Bless them. GOD BLESS THE USA.
Kevin Valentine Moraes
Mira Road (Thane)
A noble existence may end in a sacrifice but never a loss.
Those of you that put your lives in danger just to help your neighbor are my heroes. If there is nothing else I can do I can surly say Thank You and God Bless those that serve our fellow man.
Does anyone know the type/model/series of the plane?
Pray for the lost souls.
Lockheed P2-V Neptune.
After 5 trillion dollars and climbing the USFS is reduced to fighting wildfires with airframes from the Eisenhower era...
Fighting wildfires is tough, difficult and dangerous business, regardless of what the movies make it out to be. Firefighters give 100% of their efforts 100% of the time, but sometimes that is not enough and the fire wins. Nobody wants to hear of an incident such as this, but it just goes further to prove how dedicated these firefighters are. Our condolences to the families and the crew members who were close to them. Support our firefighters in whatever way you can. It's tough work and they volunteer to do it.
Why were these men put in a plane that was never designed for this type of use? The P-2 first flew in 1945 and was designed to be a naval recon aircraft.
Poor maintenance and wing root cracks led to cancelling of contracts in 2004.
Get the right plane for the fire problem. CL-215 and CL-415 are the only aircraft purpose built for firefighting. The US govt owns 6 of the older CL-215s and California leases 2 CL-415s.
Croatia leases 6 CL-415s.
The CL-415 has the record for most water dropped on a fire in 4 hours, 162,000 US gallons by refilling mid-flight from a nearby lake.
Flew P-2's out of Roosy Roads in early 70's. Two turnin & two burnin (2 Wright 3350 recip engines, and 2 J-34 jet engines). Flew data link and drone drops for the missile range down by Puerto Rico. P-2 was a good plane, just old. Had a moderate size bomb bay like a bomber that could be fitted with water tanks. Sorry to hear about this tragic event.
Thanks Sierra Club.... Lives lost and yet another national forest gone because of your ignorance.
My heart goes out to the family of the two men that gave their life fighting thoes fires.
Why did thread 6 get collapsed? Are people so thin skinned?
They should start thinking about installing ejection seat systems in fire fighting planes for the pilot, co-pilot and any stationary crew members.
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