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Plane CrashesVersion 6

Two Reported Killed in Firefighting Helicopter Crash Near Richfield, Utah

KUTV reported the pilot and a crewmember aboard a Sikorsky S-64 died, while Widemouth 2 Fire officials said the status of the two people aboard had not been confirmed.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 8, 2026, 12:15 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 8, 2026, 8:25 p.m. ET
A helicopter working a wildfire in central Utah crashed near Richfield on August 7, 2026, according to reporting by news4jax.com, mymotherlode.com, kob.com, the Canberra Times and the Salt Lake City Sun; spokesman.com described the aircraft as a . people were aboard. Accounts of the time differ: kutv.com reported , while the Salt Lake City Sun, spokesman.com and breitbart.com put it at . This remains a developing story and details may change. Accounts of the fate of those aboard conflict. kutv.com reported fatalities, saying the National Interagency Fire Center stated both the pilot and the crewmember died, but that Widemouth Fire officials later said there is no confirmation of the victims' status. Other outlets, including news4jax.com, mymotherlode.com, kob.com, the Canberra Times and the Salt Lake City Sun, reported that information on the condition of the people aboard was not immediately available. The helicopter was one of seven aircraft working the fire, which the outlets reported was caused by lightning on July 27. kutv.com reported the helicopter was contracted with the Forest Service to assist with the Widemouth Fire. It had been operating in an area of steep terrain and ignited another fire when it crashed, according to the reporting. Response teams could not reach the scene by the evening of Friday, August 7 because of flames, with the hope of doing so within 24 hours; kutv.com reported the new brush fire prevented Millard County's search and rescue crew from reaching the site, and that the Sevier County Sheriff's Office said fire conditions do not allow access. Firefighting efforts were paused after the accident but later resumed. Tyler Hecht of the Great Basin Incident Management Team said conditions were good enough for aircraft to fly at the time of the crash. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called wildland firefighting among the most dangerous jobs in the world. The outlets described the fire in overlapping and differing terms. The Canberra Times and the Salt Lake City Sun reported the Fishlake National Forest fire near Kanosh, Utah had grown to 427 square kilometres and was 19 per cent contained, and described the Widemouth Fire as the second-largest wildfire of Utah's 2026 season, with more than 105,000 acres burned; other reporting put the total at more than 106,000 acres and more than 100,000 acres, while kutv.com reported over 111,000 acres and called it the largest wildfire of Utah's 2026 fire season. Separately, kob.com and other outlets reported that a bulldozer operator, Jason Ensign, 47, died Thursday, August 6 on the Wrights Spring fire in Oregon. Outlets noted the Skycrane can carry a tank of more than ,000 gallons and is commonly used in firefighting. The cause of the crash has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate, but "may not be able to safely reach the scene immediately" according to news4jax.com, mymotherlode.com and kob.com, or "might not be able to safely reach the scene immediately" according to the Canberra Times; spokesman.com and breitbart.com reported the NTSB is investigating, and kutv.com said the cause has not yet been determined. The aircraft's registration has not been given in the available reporting, and the aircraft has not otherwise been identified. A weather observation recorded at Richfield Municipal Airport, .6 miles away and five minutes from the reported time, showed wind from 190° at knots, visibility 5 statute miles, clear skies with haze, and 72°F; that is an instrument reading and not a statement about the crash. Geographic reference data places Richfield in Sevier County, Utah, at a settlement elevation of 5,351 feet, which locates the town and not the crash site.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Terrain elevation
5,351 ft
Nearest aerodrome
2.6 miles NNE of Richfield Municipal Airport (KRIF/RIF)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 69 Aug 2026, 00:25current

    Added kutv.com's report of two deaths attributed to the National Interagency Fire Center alongside Widemouth 2 Fire officials' statement that victim status is unconfirmed; added the conflicting 10:40 a.m. time, the Forest Service contract, acreage discrepancies, Sevier County Sheriff's Office and Millard County access details, Gov. Cox comment, S-64 tank capacity and the nearby weather observation.

  2. Version 58 Aug 2026, 04:52

    Added kob.com as a corroborating source for the crash details, the investigation statement and the Oregon dozer operator's death.

  3. Version 48 Aug 2026, 03:52

    Corrected the geographic reference bearing to Richfield Municipal Airport (2.6 miles NNE, as the reference data states), added mymotherlode.com attribution and the detail that teams hoped to reach the site within 24 hours.

  4. Version 38 Aug 2026, 03:17

    Clarified that the Richfield geographic reference locates the settlement rather than the crash site.

  5. Version 28 Aug 2026, 02:37

    Added news4jax attribution, the pause and resumption of firefighting, the Great Basin team spokesman's name, a separate Oregon bulldozer operator death, the sourced range on the investigators' access wording, and geographic reference data for Richfield.

  6. Version 18 Aug 2026, 02:21

    First published.

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