Sheep Creek Fire Entrapment 2018

A helicopter crash in a remote area near Battle Mountain, Nevada ignited a wildfire, resulting in a burnover of a Type 4 engine on a Search and Rescue mission responding to the helicopter crash. With a pilot and two biologists on board, the helicopter crashed in a draw, igniting the wildfire and injuring two of the passengers. They self-extricated from the helicopter and climbed up on a rock outcropping to take refuge from the rapidly spreading fire.

Firefighting and rescue resources were dispatched from Lander County Dispatch, including the Battle Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, local EMS services and a medical helicopter.

Meanwhile, Elko Interagency Dispatch Center was coordinating with Central Nevada Interagency Dispatch Center on a response to the rapidly spreading wildfire. The two firefighters responding to the helicopter crash in the Type 4 engine were burned over soon after the occupants of the crashed helicopter were evacuated.

Entrapment, Aviation, Dispatch, Engines, Equipment, Initial Attack, Fire Behavior, Burn Injury, Entrapment