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Plane CrashesVersion 2

Two Crew Killed in Firefighting Helicopter Crash Near Richfield

A Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane working under a US Forest Service contract crashed near the Widemouth 2 fire; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 9, 2026, 8:17 p.m. ET
A Sikorsky S-64 "Skycrane" helicopter operating under contract with the Forest Service crashed at in the Three Creeks Reservoir area southwest of , near the southeastern edge of the Widemouth fire, according to reporting by dominicanrepublicpost.com and grenadachronicle.com. crew members were killed, according to grenadachronicle.com. The situation is still developing. The outlets reported that the National Interagency Fire Center said extreme fire conditions and steep terrain kept rescue teams from reaching the wreckage, and that the bodies were recovered on Saturday. The Utah Highway Patrol organised a procession on Saturday evening to escort the remains. Deputy incident commander Tyler Hecht said crews took a "tactical pause" after the crash before resuming firefighting. The cause of the crash has not been determined. No investigative findings have been reported. The helicopter was operated by , according to both outlets. The aircraft involved has not been identified; registry records list one aircraft under this operator, which is not an identification of the helicopter in this crash. According to the same reporting, the Widemouth fire ignited from a lightning strike in Fishlake National Forest on July 27 and has burned more than 111,000 acres, with containment listed at 24 percent on Saturday.

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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 Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.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
846 ft
Nearest aerodrome
3.2 miles W of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport / Wold–Chamberlain Field (KMSP/MSP)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 210 Aug 2026, 00:17current

    Added two crew fatalities attributed to grenadachronicle.com, second source and evening procession detail.

  2. Version 110 Aug 2026, 00:04

    First published.

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