A 56-year-old man from British Columbia was identified as the pilot killed Sunday while responding to the Gold Mountain fire.
Nicholas Dale of Sooke, British Columbia, was identified by the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office on Monday afternoon. Dale was piloting a K-MAX helicopter when the aircraft crashed into Silver Jack Reservoir, according to the sheriff’s office.
Dale was working on suppression efforts on the Gold Mountain fire at the time. The crash was reported shortly after 5 p.m., and Dale’s body was later recovered from the submerged helicopter with the help of a dive team from Montrose.
Dale’s death marks the fourth firefighter death in Colorado this season. In late June, three members of a helitack team died in a burnover while battling the Snyder Fire.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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