THE DALLES, Ore. — A helicopter pilot who died late Monday while fighting a wildfire in Oregon’s Mount Hood National Forest worked for a private company based in Bozeman, Mont., that was under contract for aerial firefighting with the U.S. Forest Service, authorities said Tuesday.
“This kind of news is never easy,” said Suzanne Flory, a spokeswoman for the Forest Service. “We have very limited information at this time but an investigation has started and it is ongoing.”
Authorities declined to release the name of the man because authorities were still notifying his family, but the pilot had been doing bucket drops on the fire for several days with a Type 1 Kmax helicopter before the crash, said Brian Goff, the Forest Service incident commander for the White River Fire.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
The White River Fire is currently 15 percent contained and is a little more than 1,200 acres in size. It’s been fueled by gusty winds and is burning in steep, densely forested terrain about 90 miles east of Portland.
