Authorities give updates on Horse Gulch Fire, plane crash

The incident management team overseeing the response to the Horse Gulch Fire said they made some progress Friday, but they’re preparing for difficult conditions Saturday.

Authorities held a community meeting Friday evening at East Helena High School. They said the fire grew to just over 11,500 acres, with most of the increase on the southeastern edge. They were able to put more hand crews and aerial resources into reinforcing lines on the northwest side near York and the southwest side near Canyon Ferry, as weather conditions were more favorable. There have still been no reports of structures destroyed.

However, leaders said they’re concerned about “intense” fire weather on Saturday, with high temperatures, low humidity and wind. A larger incident management team is set to take over the fire this weekend.

Jonathon Ambarian

Sheriff Leo Dutton said evacuations are remaining in place for now. He urged the public to avoid interfering with fire operations – particularly boaters on the lakes who might get in the way of firefighting planes and helicopters.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board say they’re not ready to speculate yet about what may have caused the plane crash that killed a firefighting pilot working on the Horse Gulch Fire.

The NTSB held a news conference Friday at East Helena High School to release initial information about the crash. They said the wreckage has been fully recovered from Hauser Lake and is now on its way to a secure facility to be fully examined. Two investigators will remain on scene several more days to collect more information.

“During this part of our investigation process, we focus on gathering facts and perishable data that can go away with time or be altered when the wreckage is recovered and moved,” said air safety investigator Kristyn Blocher.

Jonathon Ambarian

Blocher said the plane that crashed was part of a group of four that came from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Wednesday morning to help fight the fire, and that they were starting to scoop water out of Hauser Lake when it happened.

“The second airplane in the flight of four began their scoop, was departing the lake and ended up impacting terrain beside the lake,” said Blocher. “After they impacted terrain, the airplane fell back into the lake, came to rest inverted in the water.”

The only person on board the plane was pilot Juliana Turchetti.

Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed what happened to contact them.

“If you are someone from the community who was in a boat on the lake or in a home nearby and saw these airplanes flying over and may have seen something during the time of the accident, we would like to hear from you about that,” Blocher said. “If you're somebody who may have been recording airplanes flying over and might have captured video of this event, we would like to hear from you.”

Anyone with information can email witness@ntsb.gov . The NTSB asks people to include a telephone number so they can contact them if needed.

Blocher said the NTSB will likely release a preliminary report with the initial factual information about the crash in about 15 days. A full report will be around 18 months away.

“The NTSB absolutely extends their condolences to the family of this pilot and the friends of this pilot and the colleagues of this pilot,” said Blocher.