FirstAlerts
Plane CrashesVersion 29

Helicopter Working Central Utah Wildfire Crashes With Two Aboard; Cause Not Determined

The aircraft went down on the morning of Friday, August 7, 2026, near Richfield, Utah, and officials said the fire kept responders from reaching the remote site.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 7, 2026, 5:34 p.m. ETUpdated Aug 8, 2026, 8:38 p.m. ET
A helicopter working a wildfire in central crashed on the morning of Friday, August 7, 2026, near Richfield, with people aboard, according to reporting by ABC News, The Guardian, the Brandon Sun and The Canberra Times. The situation is developing and details remain incomplete. Biztoc reported that both people aboard, described as crew, were killed. ABC News, the Brandon Sun and The Canberra Times reported that the Federal Aviation Administration and wildfire officials did not have information on the condition of the people on board, and The Guardian reported that the US Forest Service initially declined to comment on the condition of those aboard. CBS News reported that officials could not confirm the status of the people aboard, and that officials urged the public not to speculate or spread rumors about the cause. The US Forest Service at Fishlake National Forest said emergency personnel were on the scene. Outlets reported that the Sevier County Sheriff did not immediately respond to questions about the crash, while Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said crews would be sent in as soon as possible. Accounts of the aircraft differ: Local 10, WRAL, KUER, Newser and the Los Angeles Times described it as a , ABC News and The Guardian as a , and ABC News and WDIO as a . No registration appears in the reporting, and the aircraft has not otherwise been identified. According to the reporting, the helicopter was supporting firefighting operations against the expanding Widemouth fire and was one of seven aircraft working a fire in central caused by lightning on July 27. The Guardian reported the lightning-sparked blaze has burned 105,000 acres since July 27; other reporting said the Widemouth fire has burned more than 160,000 acres. Outlets reported the helicopter had been working in an area with steep terrain and that when it crashed it ignited another fire; deputy incident commander Tyler Hecht described the terrain at the crash site as "very difficult". CBS News reported the new fire started by the crash connected with the existing blaze, which has scorched nearly 174 square miles, and that the crash site is inside the fire perimeter. The fire, on the Fishlake National Forest near Kanosh, had grown to 165 square miles (427 square kilometers) and was 19% contained as of Friday, with more than 600 firefighting personnel assigned, evacuations triggered and at least six structures destroyed. Crews were warned of erratic winds, dry fuels, hot temperatures and possible dry thunderstorms, with red flag warnings in effect. Tyler Hecht of the Great Basin Incident Management Team said conditions were good enough for aircraft to fly when the helicopter crashed. Firefighting efforts were paused after the accident but later resumed, and response teams could not reach the crash scene by Friday evening because of the flames — in part because the crash had started a new fire — but hoped to get there within 24 hours. Outlets placed the crash site about 160 miles (258 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. Geographic reference data places Richfield in Sevier County, , at an elevation of 5,351 feet and about .6 miles from Richfield Municipal Airport; that locates the town, not the crash site. The cause of the crash has not been determined. CBS News reported that the National Transportation Safety Board said its preliminary information is that "the helicopter crashed in remote terrain under unknown circumstances during firefighting operations," and that NTSB investigators were expected to arrive in Richfield by Saturday night. The Canberra Times, the Brandon Sun and the Daily Express reported that the NTSB and the FAA will investigate but might not be able to safely reach the scene immediately if the wildfire is burning nearby; ABC News reported that the agencies will investigate and that the NTSB will do so once its team can examine the wreckage, and CTV News reported that the U.S. NTSB and FAA will investigate.

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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 299 Aug 2026, 00:38current

    Added CBS News details that the crash-started fire merged with the existing blaze now covering nearly 174 square miles, that the site lies inside the fire perimeter, that officials could not confirm the two occupants' status and urged against speculation; added the 160,000-acre figure and the 'Sikorsky Skycrane' description to the aircraft-type range.

  2. Version 288 Aug 2026, 04:22

    Added Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis's statement that crews would be sent in as soon as possible, and added the Los Angeles Times to outlets describing the aircraft as a Sikorsky S-64.

  3. Version 278 Aug 2026, 04:07

    No new facts; headline and dek added, text otherwise unchanged.

  4. Version 268 Aug 2026, 03:52

    No new facts; headline and dek clarified, story otherwise unchanged.

  5. Version 258 Aug 2026, 03:22

    No new facts in this update; headline and dek revised to foreground the investigation, text otherwise unchanged.

  6. Version 248 Aug 2026, 03:17

    Led aircraft-type disagreement with the best-supported S-64 designation (adding KUER) and revised the headline and dek to foreground the NTSB's preliminary statement.

  7. Version 238 Aug 2026, 02:42

    Added headline and dek leading with the NTSB's preliminary statement; body unchanged in substance.

  8. Version 228 Aug 2026, 02:37

    No new facts; added headline and dek, text otherwise unchanged from v21.

  9. Version 218 Aug 2026, 02:33

    No new facts; added headline and dek, and tightened attribution of the NTSB preliminary statement and the geographic reference data.

  10. Version 208 Aug 2026, 02:18

    Added WRAL to the outlets describing the aircraft as a Sikorsky S-64; headline and dek clarified.

  11. Version 198 Aug 2026, 02:12

    No new facts; headline and dek clarified, story text unchanged.

  12. Version 188 Aug 2026, 02:03

    Added Local 10's "Sikorsky S-64" to the aircraft-type disagreement and the kilometer figure for the distance from Salt Lake City.

  13. Version 178 Aug 2026, 01:57

    No new facts; headline and dek sharpened, story text unchanged.

  14. Version 168 Aug 2026, 01:52

    Added the NTSB's preliminary statement that the helicopter crashed in remote terrain under unknown circumstances, the expected Saturday-night arrival of NTSB investigators in Richfield, and the Forest Service statement that emergency personnel were on scene.

  15. Version 158 Aug 2026, 01:48

    No new facts; headline and dek rewritten for precision, story text unchanged.

  16. Version 148 Aug 2026, 01:42

    Added Guardian details: morning timing, 105,000 acres burned since July 27, Hecht's 'very difficult' terrain description, Forest Service initially declining comment, and that the new fire started by the crash delayed rescuers.

  17. Version 138 Aug 2026, 01:37

    Added headline and dek; body unchanged from v12.

  18. Version 128 Aug 2026, 01:32

    Added CTV News's account of the investigating agencies to the closing paragraph; headline and dek sharpened to reflect the conflicting reports on the crew's condition.

  19. Version 118 Aug 2026, 01:27

    Added reported detail that the helicopter had been working in steep terrain and ignited another fire on impact, plus that the wildfire triggered evacuations; split location paragraph.

  20. Version 108 Aug 2026, 01:22

    No new facts; headline and dek revised for clarity, story text unchanged.

  21. Version 98 Aug 2026, 01:17

    No substantive changes; headline and dek tightened, story otherwise unchanged from v8.

  22. Version 88 Aug 2026, 01:12

    Added the reported crash site distance of about 160 miles south of Salt Lake City and consolidated the aircraft-identification paragraph.

  23. Version 78 Aug 2026, 01:07

    Added that response teams could not reach the site by Friday evening but hoped to within 24 hours, that firefighting paused and resumed, and Tyler Hecht's statement that flying conditions were good enough at the time.

  24. Version 68 Aug 2026, 00:52

    Aircraft type now reported as a sourced conflict between ABC News and WDIO; added fire location on the Fishlake National Forest near Kanosh, the 600-plus personnel figure and six structures destroyed.

  25. Version 58 Aug 2026, 00:47

    Added that the Sevier County Sheriff did not immediately respond to questions, and spelled out the sourced disagreement over whether investigators may be unable to reach the scene immediately.

  26. Version 48 Aug 2026, 00:42

    Corrected the stated direction between Richfield and Richfield Municipal Airport to a plain distance, as the reference data's bearing was ambiguous; no new facts.

  27. Version 38 Aug 2026, 00:37

    Added Biztoc's report that both crew members were killed, alongside other outlets' statement that officials had no information on their condition; named the Widemouth 2 Fire, noted the aircraft is unidentified and added geographic reference data for Richfield.

  28. Version 28 Aug 2026, 00:32

    No new facts reported; attribution tightened and wording clarified, with the aircraft type and the outlets reporting it stated more precisely.

  29. Version 18 Aug 2026, 00:27

    First published.

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