Firefighting pilot dies when aircraft crashes into Colorado reservoir

Gold Mountain fire tops 35,000 acres as crews battle multiple Colorado blazes

The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified of the crash at about 5:17 p.m. local time Sunday. The county’s regional communications center received a call reporting that the aircraft had gone down in Silver Jack Reservoir, located in the southwestern portion of the county.

The sheriff’s office confirmed that the aircraft was engaged in firefighting operations with the Gold Mountain fire, which has been burning since June 27. In an initial statement, authorities said they believed one person was on board. The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team later recovered the pilot’s body from the aircraft, the sheriff’s office said. The pilot’s body was to be taken to the coroner’s office in Gunnison. The sheriff’s office said it would not release additional information until the pilot’s family had received formal notification.

As of Monday morning, the Gold Mountain fire had burned more than 35,000 acres and was 13% contained. Evacuation orders were in effect for parts of southwestern Gunnison County. The cause of the wildfire, which was first reported northeast of Ouray, remained undetermined as of Monday.

On July 1, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced that the state had been approved for a Federal Emergency Management Agency fire management assistance grant to support the response to the Gold Mountain fire in Ouray County. “I am deeply grateful for the hardworking brave firefighters putting their lives on the line to protect us and keep our communities safe,” Polis said.

The pilot’s death Sunday came after the U.S. Wildland Fire Service announced that three firefighters were killed and two others were injured while responding to wildfires along the Colorado-Utah border in late June.

Multiple large wildfires continued to burn across Colorado as of Monday. The Ferris fire in southwestern Colorado had burned more than 64,000 acres and was 23% contained as of Sunday, with evacuation orders in place for some areas. Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency in response to the Ferris fire on July 8, activating the state emergency operations plan.

The Willow fire, burning west of Leadville and started on June 28, was 33% contained as of Sunday and had burned 5,853 acres. The Aspen Acres fire, which began northwest of Rye in late June, had burned 98,100 acres and was 35% contained as of Monday.