Worland, Thermopolis firefighters save a life in California helicopter crash

In September of this year Erich Berryman, a Worland firefighter who has served for 23 years, took a crew of himself, Taylor Horath of Worland and Clemens Abbott of Thermopolis to Redding, California, to fight fires.

They were there on severity levels where there is perilously low number of firefighting personnel to assist with the fires in the area. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection staged them in the Sierra National Forest as part of their initial attack.

The first couple of days there were quiet, while the crew awaited assignment. Horath said he spent much of that time playing Runescape on his phone.

The crew was eventually reassigned to a region of the Sierra National Forest near Prather, where they worked patrolling for any new starts. This was quiet too, until the morning after a storm cell passed through.

On Sept. 9, they awoke to an order to drive up the mountain to contain a fire discovered by Air Attack that morning, dubbed the "Teakettle Fire." On their way there, Air Attack radioed that they discovered another new fire near them. Berryman radioed back, and said that since his crew was in the area they would be responsible for containing it.

The crew trailed off to find the new fire, and, with the help of Air Attack giving directions, were able to walk up to it.

Horath described the fire as less than a tenth of an acre in size, located in a finger of extremely tall trees separating two large meadows. He said, "These trees were easily over 100 feet tall. The biggest I had ever seen."

The crew initially planned to contain the blaze using the hose from their fire engine, but due to challenges presented by the terrain they reconsidered. Horath said, "We were dealing with downed trees that were taller than me laying on their side. We could have done it, but it would have taken a long time. We had the helicopters in the air, so it seemed like the right plan."

The crew called for a helicopter to come dump water on their fire, backed away a safe distance into one of the meadows, and waited about 10 minutes for the helicopter to arrive. It was a refitted Bell UH-1 "Huey" helicopter equipped with a water tank, so it would dump water from its "belly" rather than a bucket.

At about 1:45 p.m. that day, the pilot made an orbit around the area to gain situational awareness and find an angle to get above the fire. He found it, made his way over the fire, and paused for a moment.

Horath said, "He got above the fire, and I noticed the water didn't drop, and that's when I knew that something was going wrong. Then I heard his rotors start hitting the trees."

Berryman said that the nose of the aircraft dipped, the blades of the primary rotor began to clip the canopy of the trees, and that it looked as if the pilot tried to redirect the helicopter as it was crash landing. From the height at which it initially struck the trees, it took several seconds to hit the ground. While still in the air, the firefighters noticed that it had caught fire. The helicopter crashed about 50 yards away from the crew.

They responded immediately. Horath said, "I think we were moving before it hit the ground. Obviously, I was in disbelief, but if there was any hesitation it was the most miniscule amount."

Berryman said, "In critical incidents, you're not quite sure how you're going to handle that, but your training kicks in and takes control. It's like second nature."

The three sprinted to the crash site. Berryman immediately called in "Mayday" to Air Attack while Horath and Abbott made it to the pilot.

Horath said, "I went in expecting the worst. When I got there and saw he was in one piece and heard him moaning, I had to thank God because it was already going better than I imagined."

Horath described the scene, painting an image of chaos. The helicopter was destroyed. The smell of aviation fuel was very prominent, and the fire in the engine compartment was growing. Also, because it didn't drop its water, the ground was flooding beneath them.

The pilot was still in the cockpit of the aircraft, hanging out of the doorway by his lap belt. Horath and Abbott pulled him out of the wreckage, noting that his feet were tangled in the foot pedals. They dragged him about 10 feet away to check for any critical injuries, and found none.

Horath said, "The first thing I noticed was that he was moving his legs, his arm and his head so we knew he wasn't paralyzed, and he was safe for us to move further. While I was checking him I asked him what day it was and he said Friday. It was actually Saturday but it was close enough that I believed he was OK. Erich and Clemens actually got him up on his feet, and they were supporting him while I carried all of our stuff. We walked out to the other meadow about 100 yards away to be a safe distance from the new fire."

Meanwhile, the helicopter fire grew to engulf the aircraft in flames, making it a threat to compound to the fire they were already fighting. Berryman was in close contact with Air Attack during this time, and got a large air tanker to box in the helicopter fire with retardant within minutes.

Air Attack called in everyone they could, and other firefighters in the area made it to the meadow within 30 minutes. Law enforcement and emergency medical technicians were next to arrive, and the pilot received medical attention. Finally, about an hour after the crash, an ambulatory helicopter arrived and took the pilot to a hospital.

The firefighters returned down the mountain, filed reports and received resources to cope with trauma, and were sent home.

The crew found out a week later about the extent of the pilot's injuries: he broke his sternum and a knuckle. He called the firefighters from his home, surrounded by his family, to thank them.

Horath said, "That really gave me some peace of mind about the whole thing. He said that he didn't remember what happened after he crashed, and he was certain that we saved his life."

In reflecting on the event, Horath said, "In the days following, I don't feel like it ever really messed with me. There was just still a lot of disbelief. I've seen hundreds of helicopters work on fires, and this kind of thing never happens. It was bizarre."

Berryman said he hadn't considered how the event affected him, but after a pause said, "I've been doing fires since I was a senior in high school in 2000, so I'm used to coming up to something like this after it's already happened. It's kind of crazy when it happens right in front of you and you're the one who has to go deal with it."