B.C. helicopter pilot killed in Colorado crash while on wildfire duty

Police in southwestern Colorado say a man from British Columbia has died after the helicopter he was piloting crashed on Sunday.

B.C. helicopter pilot killed in Colorado crash while on wildfire duty Nicholas Dale, 56, died Sunday in a crash near Aspen Police in southwestern Colorado say a man from British Columbia has died after the helicopter he was piloting crashed on Sunday. The body of 56-year-old Nicholas Dale of Sooke, on southern Vancouver Island, was pulled from his helicopter that went down in the Silver Jack Reservoir, in a remote area southwest of Aspen, Co., according to Adam Murdie with the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office. Murdie says Dale had been helping firefighters with the Gold Mountain Fire, which has grown to about 148 square kilometres.

Dale was the only one in the helicopter at the time. Photos shared Monday by the sheriff's office and other first responder agencies in Colorado show first responders taking part in a procession of emergency vehicles honouring a "fallen fire hero." Colorado Gov. Jared Polis expressed his condolences to family and friends of Dale on the "immense loss," and ordered that state flags fly at half-mast.

"We are committed to supporting our brave firefighters and their families, and the state stands ready to support any investigation into this tragic incident," Polis said in a statement. Jeff Hurd and Brittany Pettersen, U.S. Congress members from Colorado, were also among those who paid tribute to Dale. Every wildfire season, aerial firefighters put themselves in harm’s way to protect our communities and support the men and women on the ground battling dangerous fires.

Today, we mourn the loss of Nicholas Dale, who gave his life while supporting response efforts on the Gold... pic.twitter.com/2BWO4yYGCG —RepJeffHurd The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the aircraft was a Kaman Aerospace K-1200 helicopter that "crashed under unknown circumstances, becoming inverted," according to its preliminary report. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, the FAA said in its statement. Dale's helicopter was owned by Georgia-based Helicopter Express, which said on social media that Dale leaves behind a wife and two children.

Many large fires are burning across Western states like Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, while there are also wildfires burning in eight other states from Alaska to Arizona. The Gold Mountain Fire was first detected on June 27. Three firefighters who were members of a crew that sometimes drops into remote areas by helicopter were killed on the same day battling the Knowles Fire in Colorado's Mesa County near the Utah border.

The three firefighters — a man from Arizona and women from Alabama and Michigan — sustained burn injuries and were overcome by flames from the fast-moving fires. With files from CBC News and the Associated Press