Bear Fire Helicopter Accident Fatalities 1972

On August 26, 1972, a Bell 205 A-1 carrying a load of firefighters from the Marysville Diablos Fire Crew to the Hines Peak helispot on the Bear Fire crashed, killing a total of six people. The the helicopter with two pilots and nine firefighters suffered a compressor stall in its single engine resulting in a loss of power and subsequently crashed into a steep canyon wall at approximately 1441 hrs. The Bear Fire on the Los Padres National Forest was about 17,000 acres at the time. The final fire size is listed in the California Fire History Database as 17,326 acres. 

Those lost in the Bear Fire helicopter crash were: George Z. Aguilar, Jr., Jesus Irigoyen Corral, Ramon Guizar, Filomeno Romero, and James Ronald “Donaldson” Runningdeer. All were firefighters mobilized from the Sacramento River Valley in Yuba County, possibly through the Mendocino National Forest. The pilot, also lost in the accident, was Earl L. Lady with Evergreen Helicopters based in Oregon.