FirstAlerts
Plane CrashesVersion 3

Two crew killed in firefighting helicopter crash at Utah's Widemouth 2 fire

Crews reached the wreckage in Fishlake National Forest on Saturday after fire conditions blocked access for more than 24 hours; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 8, 2026, 11:22 p.m. ET
crew members were killed when a firefighting helicopter crashed on , 7 August 2026, while working the Widemouth fire in , according to Al Jazeera and click2houston.com; click2houston.com put the total dead at . Al Jazeera reported the crash occurred at , while the Guardian and click2houston.com placed it on . The Guardian reported people were aboard. Officials initially could not reach the crash site because of the fire; crews entered on Saturday and confirmed the deaths, the outlets reported. The declined to confirm the status of those onboard and urged the public not to speculate. The Highway Patrol organised a procession on Saturday evening to escort the remains. Accounts of the aircraft and who was flying it differ. Al Jazeera and the Guardian described it as a Sikorsky S-64 'Skycrane'; click2houston.com described it as a . On the operator, click2houston.com and Al Jazeera named , working under contract to the , while the Guardian identified the operator as the . No registration has been reported and the aircraft has not been identified. Registry records list one aircraft under ; that is not an identification of the aircraft involved. The cause has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, though accounts of its progress differ: the Guardian reported NTSB investigators were en route to Richfield, while click2houston.com reported the board will investigate once its team can examine the wreckage. The crash ignited a new blaze that connected with the existing fire, and the accident site lies within the fire's perimeter, the outlets reported. Extreme fire conditions and steep terrain kept ground resources and search-and-rescue teams from safely reaching the site for more than 24 hours, with bodies recovered on Saturday. Deputy incident commander Tyler Hecht said crews took a 'tactical pause' after the crash before resuming firefighting. The Widemouth fire was ignited by a lightning strike in the Fishlake National Forest on 27 July, the outlets reported. Reported extents differ: click2houston.com and the Guardian described the fire as having swept more than 114,600 acres and as having scorched nearly 174 square miles, while Al Jazeera reported more than 111,000 acres burned. Containment was 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
5,351 ft
Nearest aerodrome
2.6 miles NNE of Richfield Municipal Airport (KRIF/RIF)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 39 Aug 2026, 03:22current

    Corrected the operator fleet record to Helicopter Transport Services (previously misattributed to the US Forest Service); added Al Jazeera's ~10am timing, the Utah Highway Patrol procession, the 'tactical pause', the 27 July lightning ignition, and the differing acreage figures.

  2. Version 29 Aug 2026, 02:52

    Adds confirmation of two crew deaths after crews reached the site Saturday; adds conflicting aircraft type and operator accounts, conflicting NTSB status, and notes the aircraft has not been identified.

  3. Version 19 Aug 2026, 00:24

    First published.

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