Firefighting Helicopter Crashes in Utah, Killing 2 Crew Members

A firefighting helicopter crashed on Friday while battling the Widemouth 2 Fire in central Utah, killing the two crew members on board, authorities confirmed Saturday. The aircraft, a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane, went down near Richfield in Sevier County at approximately 10 a.m. local time. The helicopter was under contract with the U.S. Forest Service and was supporting operations against the Widemouth 2 Fire, a massive blaze that has burned more than 114,000 acres (about 461 square kilometers) since it was sparked by lightning on July 27. The crash itself ignited a new fire that spread and connected with the existing blaze, which has now scorched nearly 174 square miles (451 square kilometers). The wreckage was swallowed by the flames, preventing emergency responders from safely reaching the site for more than a day. “No escape routes that any firefighters could get into or out of if we had put them in there,” said Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis. The dangerous conditions resulted in confusion over the fate of the crew. On Saturday morning, the National Interagency Fire Center reported the two firefighters had died, but the U.S. Forest Service later issued a statement saying there was “no confirmation of the status of the victims” as rescue teams could still not reach the site. By Saturday evening, authorities confirmed the two had perished. The pilot and one crew member were killed. Their names have not been released. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, but investigators were waiting for fire conditions to improve before they could examine the wreckage. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described wildland firefighting as “among the most dangerous jobs in the world.” “Today is a painful reminder of the extraordinary risks these brave men and women accept to protect us,” Cox said. The Widemouth 2 Fire is currently the second-largest wildfire of Utah’s 2026 fire season. It was 24 percent contained as of Saturday and has destroyed at least six structures. The crash adds to a solemn wildfire season in the West; in June, three wildland firefighters died battling a blaze along the Utah-Colorado border, and on Thursday a bulldozer operator was killed in a southern Oregon fire.