World

Crews unable to reach crashed helicopter in Utah fire

By Josh Funk

Aug 9, 2026

The wildfire burning near Richfield, Utah — The crash of the helicopter, with two people on board, ignited a new fire in Utah. -AP

A large wildfire in Utah has kept emergency responders from safely reaching the remote site of a helicopter crash as other fires burned across several US states.

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The crash of a Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter in Utah's Fishlake National Forest on Friday ignited a new fire that spread to connect with the existing blaze that has now scorched nearly 451 square kilometres.

Officials battling the fire said they had decided not to place additional lives at risk until the fire is under more control, so they have not been able to confirm the status of the two people aboard the helicopter.

The National Interagency Fire Centre said the pilot and crew-member were fatally injured in the crash, but did not give details of the source of that information.

"The site is now inside the fire perimeter itself," the fire incident management team said on Saturday.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the helicopter crash once their team can examine the wreckage. Officials urged the public not to speculate or spread rumours about the cause at this early stage.

In Washington state, the National Park Service closed down access to the Sunrise and White River areas of Mount Rainier National Park after a new wildfire burned less than a square kilometre. Firefighters were working to gain control of that fire on Saturday.

The larger fires near Spokane have now burned more than 40 square kilometres, but firefighters have constructed over 120 kilometres of containment line to help control those flames.