Two pilots die in helicopter crash fighting California wildfire

Sept 21 — Two pilots died when their helicopter crashed on ​Sunday afternoon while dropping water on a wildfire in California's Yosemite National Park, authorities said on ‌Monday.

Greg King, with contract firm Precision, was one of the pilots who ⁠died, according to a statement ​from the Alaska Division ⁠of Forestry and Fire Protection. The second pilot was ‌not named as ‌family members were still being notified, the agency said.

The ⁠pilots were carrying out water ⁠bucket drops on the Dome Fire when their Super Puma helicopter went down southeast of Ostrander Lake, according to Connie Lau, a spokesperson for the California team managing the response to the fire.

The cause of the ‌crash is under investigation by the ​Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, the agencies said.

The deaths brought to five the number of helicopter pilots killed in crashes in Colorado, Utah and California this year fighting wildfires.

The United States is experiencing an intense fire season after a historically low ​winter snowpack, record temperatures and decades of drought in the ‌US West.

At least ‌18 ⁠people have died fighting US wildfires so far in 2026, according to data from the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned federal agency. That is already more than the full-year average ‌of 17 deaths ​in recent decades, according to National ‌Interagency Fire Center ⁠data.

(Reporting by ​Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson and ​Bill Berkrot)

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