Pilot death is second amid late season wildfires in Rockies

DENVER — Authorities on Wednesday were investigating the death of a pilot who crashed while fighting a wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park at night, the second person to die amid wind-driven, late season wildfires in the Rockies this week.

The pilot of the single-engine air tanker was found dead Tuesday night south of Estes Park about three hours after authorities received reports of a crash, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said. The pilot was the only person on board, it said.

KUSA-TV reported that it spoke to the pilot who died before he took off, saying that he was excited for the night time flight, which he said was the culmination of five years of hard work.

The pilot’s name has not been released by the coroner’s office but the company he worked for and the state’s firefighting agency identified him as Marc Thor Olson. The company, CO Fire Aviation, said Olson was an Army and Air Force veteran with 42 years of flight experience.

In a statement, the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control said it has been studying the use of aircraft to fight wildfires at night — when fires are typically less active due to lower temperatures, reduced winds and increased humidity — but has been focused on helicopters.

Earlier this week, another wind-driven wildfire led to the death a person near Wyoming’s border with Montana.

Firefighters fully contained that fire that burned about half a square mile in the area of Clark, an unincorporated community of about 300 people just south of the Montana line. The fire happened when a branch blew into a power line and caught fire, Park County Fire Warden Jerry Parker said.