PINEWOOD SPRINGS -- A helicopter contracted by the U.S. Forest Service crashed Tuesday evening working the Big Elk Fire, 7NEWS reported.

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One person was killed, said John Bustos, a spokesman for the Roosevelt National Forest.

The pilot's name was not released.

The crash happened about 6:40 p.m. at the northwest corner of the Big Elk Fire, where crews were concentrating on mopping up and patrolling hot spots. The 4,413-acre fire was completely contained on Saturday, but because of the extreme fire conditions, it is still not out.

According to broadcast reports, the crash occurred near County Road 120 and U.S. Highway 136. County Road 120 was closed the remainder of the evening for the investigation.

The cause of the chopper crash is unknown, but the National Transportation Safety Board was called in to investigate.

Roads were blocked as fire crews hiked into the deeply forested crash scene, working through the evening to stop and contain the fuel leaking from wrecked helicopter, 7NEWS reported.

The helicopter was a Aerospatiale SA315B Lama (similar picture, left) owned by Geo-seis, a company based in Fort Collins, Colo., 7NEWS reported. During the course of the fire, the chopper was contracted by the U.S. Forest Service for water drops and reconnaissance.

The pilot of the chopper was making water drops Tuesday afternoon when he radioed in and reported some type of problem, 7NEWS reported.

This is the second fatal air accident related to the Big Elk Fire, which burned between Lyons and Estes Park. A P4Y-2 Privateer air tanker that was set to drop a load of slurry on the blaze crashed on July 18, killing two pilots.

The chopper went down about 3 miles west of where the air tanker crashed, 7NEWS reported.

"Once again, the Big Elk fire has killed, showing the danger that firefighters face even after a fire is contained. With many weeks remaining in the fire season, the men and women on the fire lines need our prayers and they need our help," Gov. Bill Owens said in a statement Tuesday evening. "Tonight, I am again imploring all Coloradans to be extremely careful in our dry forests during the dangerous weeks ahead."

Stress management teams were sent to the fire command center to talk with the firefighters, who yet again, have to deal with losing another one of their colleagues.