Air Tanker Crashes Fighting Sierra Wildfire

Fire Officials Say Blaze Threatens 200 Homes

WALKER, Calif. -- An air tanker fighting a wildfire in the Sierra crashed near the town of Walker about 3 p.m. Monday.

"An air tanker did go down in the Walker area east of Highway 395," said Laura Williams, spokeswoman for the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden, Nev. "We really have gotten very, very little information about it. Medical crews have responded. There was a fire that ensued in the grass surrounding it."

Williams said that she had no information on the crew or any medical information. But she did say that firefighting air tankers typically have a crew of three.

The air tanker was part of a crew fighting the 6,500-acre fire on the Sierra's eastern front.

The fast-moving wildfire in Mono County forced hundreds of people out of their homes early Monday.

Fire officials said that 200 homes near the town of Walker were threatened, and that two homes have burned already.

Residents are being told they can return Monday late afternoon.

U.S. Highway 395 was shut down northbound at junction state Route 182 and southbound at the Nevada state line.

The fire broke out Saturday. Crews said that high winds are making it tough to fight.

Walker is about 90 miles south of Reno, Nev.

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