Big Elk Fire Now 2,500 Acres And Growing

PINEWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Big Elk fire expanded in size to 2,500 acres by Friday night and fire officials said without air support there was little to do but protect homes and hope for the best.

The fire, estimated at just 1,200 acres Thursday, grew largely unopposed Friday. All firefighters could do was protect homes and hope the weather wood co-operate.

The fire burned closer to the allready-evacuated Big Elk Meadows sub-division, but the majority of the fire burned toward national forest land to the west.

The nation's firefighting fleet of heavy air tankers were ordered grounded Friday following the second deadly crash in just over a month of a plane battling a wildfire in the West.

"The lack of air tankers is a problem," said Joe Hartman, the incident commander for the Type II fire fighting team assigned to the blaze. "Anytime you have resources you can't use, you have to look at different strategies, different techniques."

Two crew members on board an aging slurry bomber were killed Thursday when their plane broke apart in the air while fighting the Big Elk Fire. Their identities were not officially released Friday. However, they were identified on an Internet message board on Airtanker.com, a Web site dedicated to trade group Associated Airtanker Pilots.

Officials would not confirm the names given on the discussion board and withheld the pilots' names pending notification of the rest of their family members.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a four-member team to the crash site to try and determine what went wrong.

"We are gathering witness statements at this time and we have documented the crash site," said David Bowling, an Air Safety Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Bowling said the NTSB has not ruled out any cause for the crash. "We're still pretty early in the investigation," he told reporters at a Friday afternoon news conference.

The four-engine PB4Y (pictured, left) went down around 6:45 p.m., Thursday near the Lions Park Gulch trailhead, within 200 yards of Highway 36, 2 miles north of Pinewood Springs, and 1 mile north of the fire, 7NEWS reported. Some wreckage from the plane actually fell onto Highway 36, the station reported.

The plane had been circling over the eastern flank of the Big Elk Fire, and made a couple of practice runs when it appeared to blow up in midair.

"When it came out, it is was really low and was I was like, 'Here he comes, he's gonna come in.' And at about that time, the wings folded off of it, the fuselage busted in half, and exploded in midair," Scott Fisher said. "And there's a guy standing right next to me and we were both watching and just ... 'Oh my God.'"

Many of the people who witnessed the tragedy had been by the road all day, watching the tankers make slurry drops. Some eyewitnesses reported that the plane appeared to have been on fire before it went down.

"There was an explosion, a fire right by the left wing where it joins the fuselage. The wing came off and then he rolled and crashed. It was very quick," eyewitness Roy Safstrom told 7NEWS.

The crash started a fire and created a plume of smoke (pictured, left) that could be seen over the ridge line and started several spot fires. Two choppers dropped water on the spot fires, and were able to put those fires out before night fell.

The impact created a large debris field, AirTracker 7 pilot Rich Westra said.

BIG ELK FIRE INTERACTIVE ARTICLE: Plane In Previous Crash Owned By Same Company VIDEO: Eyewitnesses Describe Crash VIDEO: Working Life Of Tanker Pilots VIDEO: Role Of Air Tankers VIDEO: Evacuee Tells His Story SLIDESHOW: Air Tanker Overview SLIDESHOW: Big Elk Fire - Day 1 SLIDESHOW: Big Elk Fire - Day 2 Big Elk Fire Map FLASH: Fire Causes And Protections DISCUSSION: Should Old Planes Still Be Used? RESOURCES Evacuation Tips Smell Smoke? MAP:Fire Point Of Origin USFS: Big Elk Fire Larimer County Web Site Current Colorado Wildfires Clickable Colorado Wildfires Map

Highway 36 between Lyons and Estes Park will be closed for 36 hours as a result of the crash. Highway 7 is being used as an alternate route. Local residents can access the highway with identification, however.

According to a Forest Service spokesman, the heavy air tanker was coming from Jefferson County Airport, on the way to the fire, with a full load, or 2,000 gallons, of slurry on board.

The air tanker was identified as #123 (pictured, above), a four-engine PB4Y that was built in 1945, according to registration records. That type of plane was retired in the 1960s and now only a small number are used to fight fires.

"We watched it take off on that last flight about 6:15 (p.m.)," said Julie Hayden, the 7NEWS reporter assigned to cover the airtankers at Jeffco airport Thursday. She said there was no indication of trouble with the plane during the many times she saw it take off and land earlier in the day.

Last month, a C-130A air tanker battling a fire in Walker, Calif., 80 miles south of Reno, Nev., crashed after its wings snapped off in the air, sending the fuselage to the ground in a fireball. Three men were killed.

Both planes are owned by the same company, Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyo. The company has specialized in firefighting aircraft for 45 years, 7NEWS reported. It has 28 aircraft that are contracted to the government for firefighting.

A total of 25 people have died in 14 firefighting air crashes since 1960 in the United States, 7NEWS reported.

Air Tankers Across The West Grounded

The Rocky Mountain Coordination Center immediately grounded all air tankers in Colorado after Thursday's accident. Officials with the Boise Interagency Logistics Center said air tankers across the Western part of the United States were also grounded. Randy Eardley of the Boise Interagency Center said this is a typical move after an accident. He said a critical management team will come to Jefferson County Airport, and other air bases will be offered a team to counsel pilots.

Friday the National Interagency Fire Center grounded the remainder of slurry bombers used to fight fires in the United States. A spokesman said the order involved about 40 planes with an average age of 42 years.

The smaller lead planes that guide the heavy tankers to the fires were also placed on a 24-hour stand-down.

Air Crews Work Hard, Fast

PB4Y SPECS: Length: 74' 7" Wingspan: 110' Height: 29'2" Wing Area: 1,048 square feet Empty Weight: 37,765 pounds Gross weight: 65,000 pounds Power Plant: R-1830-94 Maximum Speed: 250 mph Cruising Speed: 200 mph Service Ceiling: 19,600 ft Range: 2,630 miles

News of the pilots' death devastated the tight-knit community.

According to several aviation experts, the number of captains in the country who fly firefighting air tankers number fewer than the members of the Denver Broncos football team, 7NEWS reported.

The crews work hard and fast to make it all work like clockwork. Tankers would land, get filled with retardant, and then be back in the sky again -- all within 15 minutes, 7NEWS reported.

The tight schedule gives pilots little room for error and just enough time to stretch their legs between runs. The round trip to the Big Elk fire and back to the Jeffco airport was about 25 minutes.

It can make for an exhausting day.

"This is a very tasking job. They're up at 9 a.m. and don't stop until a half-hour after sunset. With the high altitude, high temperatures, and heavy load, it's like driving your automobile on a sheet of ice all day long ... and you can just get worn at the end of the day," Westra said.

Owens' Statement On Crash

Gov. Bill Owens issued a statement expressing sorrow over the crash Thursday night.

"This tragedy shows just how dangerous it is to battle these fires. Firefighters in the air and on the ground are in constant peril. My prayers and the prayers of Coloradans everywhere go out to the families and friends of the victims and to all the firefighters," the governor said in his statement.

"If it is indeed proven that this fire was human-caused, then it makes the tragedy even more distressing, with a needless loss of life," the statement concluded.

A community memorial service will be conducted at the Pinewood Community Church, 270 Kiowa (at Gate 6) Saturday for the two men who died in the air tanker crash.

It was the third fatal accident involving firefighters involved in battling Colorado forest fires this season. A rollover accident on June 21 along Interstate 70 killed five members of a firefighting team from Oregon as they were heading to the Hayman Fire. A single firefighter died July 2 when he was crushed by a falling tree in the Missionary Ridge Fire near Durango, Colo.

Blaze Now At 2,500 Acres

On Friday the Big Elk Fire continued to grow, pushed by hot, dry winds.

With a look from the air, Larimer County officials could only guess where the fire had reached. They issued a statement Friday afternoon that read:

"We do know that it has reached south to the final ridge immediately north of Big Elk Meadows and indications are (to the extent that the heavy smoke will allow observation) that the fire has gone northwest possibly to, or nearly to, the Lion Gulch drainage. It is still believed to be east of the rock formation, Lion Head. This still has yet to be confirmed by the USFS management team," the statement concluded.

Firefighters on the ground were hampered by the lack of air tanker support and the rugged mountainside where the fire was burning.

Only water bucket-carrying helicopters were available to help.

Worried residents were told to attend one of two meetings to learn about the progress of firefighting efforts. A 6 p.m. briefing on the fire was scheduled at Estes Park High School, 1600 Manford Ave. and an 8 p.m. briefing was scheduled at the Pinewood Springs VFD.

Fire officials say that the Big Elk Fire is definitely human-caused, but did not disclose any more details. Investigators were combing through a cordoned-off area where the fire started, next to County Road 47.

Officials from the Forest Service and the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said that they are throwing all of their resources at the fire and hitting it hard, but the hot, dry conditions and rugged terrain will make it tough to fight.

The fire was burning up steep, heavily forested slopes of the Roosevelt National Forest, and was only accessible by air or after an arduous hike.

Previous Stories:

• July 18, 2002: 2 Killed When Air Tanker Fighting Big Elk Fire Crashes
Wildfire Near Estes Park, Pinewood Springs Lays Down
• June 18, 2002: Investigation Begins In Fatal Air Tanker Crash
• June 18, 2002: 3 Die In California Air Tanker Crash
• June 17, 2002: Air Tanker Crashes Fighting Sierra Wildfire