U.S.

Air Tanker Crash Kills 3 Firefighters

June 18, 2002 / 3:29 PM EDT / AP

An air tanker fighting a blaze north of Yosemite National Park caught fire Monday and crashed in this Northern California resort town, killing all three crew members and just missing a mechanic's shop, authorities and witnesses said.

A Reno, Nev., television station captured the scene on videotape as the wings broke off the C-130 transport plane. The fiery fuselage then rolled left and spiraled nose first into the ground and exploded in a ball of flame.

All three crew members were killed in the crash "under unknown circumstances after making a drop" of retardant, said Jerry Johnston, operations officer with the Federal Aviation Administration in Hawthorne, Calif.

"It was destroyed by impact and by fire," he said. Investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board were on the way to the scene.

Witnesses said the plane crashed within 150 feet of an auto shop.

"I'm standing here looking at the tail section," shop owner Mike Mandichaka told The Associated Press by telephone. "My shop is right next door. It almost hit it."

The tanker was battling an 8,000-acre blaze that had forced 400 people out of their homes in Walker, which is 90 miles south of Reno, and about 25 miles north of Yosemite. At least one home has burned.

Other aircraft battling the fire were grounded.

Reno station KOLO-TV's news crew was interviewing a man watching the skies with his own camcorder near Walker Sporting Goods Mobile Home Park when the plane came into view.

Witnesses say the plane came in low to the ground trailing a red flow of fire retardant above tall green pines. Both wings suddenly snapped off, with flashes of flame as they separated.

"We saw it circle around once and then drop through the middle there. ... That's where we saw it break up," reporter Terri Russell said.

The fire from the crash threatened about 10 structures in the immediate area, including homes, trailers and the mechanic's shop.

The wildfire began Saturday in a remote section of the Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest that the Marines use for survival training. Unexploded ordnance in the steep, rugged area was slowing containment efforts, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

The agency said the fire was "human" caused but had no other details. It was 10 percent contained Monday evening - up from 7 percent earlier in the day - and was being fought by some 671 firefighters.

The fire was estimated to have burned about 6,500 acres at noon Monday, but had nearly doubled in size by Monday night.

"The winds came up and it is now over 10,000 acres and the winds are still blowing," Hardy said. Fire officials originally estimated the fire would be fully contained by Thursday night but were considering pushing back that projection, she said.

Here's the latest on other major wildfires in the southwest:

In Southern California, three firefighters in the San Bernardino unit suffered first- and second-degree burns to their hands, elbows and noses when their fire engine was engulfed by flames as it sat parked on a highway. They are listed in good condition at Arrowhead Regional Hospital, where they were hospitalized for evaluation.

The blaze shut down Interstate 15 - the main route connecting Las Vegas to Southern California - for hours and has charred about 5,500 acres. The fire is only 15 percent contained but has moved away from homes, permitting authorities to lift an earlier evacuation order for area residents.

In southwestern Colorado a 26,700-acre fire near Durango forced the evacuation of 700 homes Monday. Since Saturday, residents have left 1,700 homes in the hills north of town, and at least one home has burned.

Forty miles southwest of Denver, the Hayman fire - the largest wildfire in the state's history - also continues to burn. The blaze, which began June 8, has blackened 103,000 acres and destroyed 25 homes. Authorities say it was started by U.S. Forest Service worker Terry Barton, who is under arrest and being held without bail.

As it flared up again Monday, authorities called for the evacuation of about 100 homes west of Colorado Springs - dispiriting news for 5,400 people across the area who are still waiting to go home.