A pilot on the Horse Gulch Fire in Montana died Wednesday when her single-engine airtanker (SEAT) crashed into Hauser Lake. Lewis and Clark Co. Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton says the 45-year-old pilot Juliana Turchetti was the only person onboard.
Lewis & Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton said Juliana Turchetti was killed when her plane crashed into a mountainside and landed in Hauser Lake. Turchetti was employed by Dauntless Air, a firefighting company that operates a fleet of single-engine airtankers
Originally from Brazil, she was in the U.S. on a visa. KPAX-TV reported that Turchetti leaves behind a 17-year-old son and numerous family members in Brazil. According to agriculture aviation magazine AgAir Update, Turchetti was one of the first women ag pilots in Brazil.
The fire’s been burning on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest since mid-day Tuesday in dense timber with heavy dead and down fuels; Wednesday included extreme fire behavior pushed by winds, and the fire’s grown to over 1,000 acres — still at zero percent containment. The Northern Rockies Team 2 is in charge; they were moving resources onto the southern flank to protect critical values at risk there.
The aircraft, a 2013 Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss owned by Aero Spray (now Dauntless Air), was contracted by the Forest Service and was flying out of Coeur d’Alene and scooping from Hauser Lake, one of a series of dammed lakes on the Missouri River upstream of Mann Gulch. The Fire Boss crashed into Hauser Lake, near Canyon Ferry Lake 20 miles northeast of Helena, while scooping water for dropping on the Horse Gulch Fire. The pilot was killed and the aircraft was written off. Lewis and Clark County Undersheriff Brent Colbert confirms the pilot’s body was recovered.
Numerous roads in the area have been closed after firefighters complained that people were trying to get close to the fire for photographs, and the sheriff’s warned residents to either evacuate or stay put, and told others to get out of the fire area.
Two more large scoopers are en route to the fire, along with resources from area VFDs and the Montana DNRC.
KTVH-TV reports that the area from Cave Gulch to Magpie Gulch on the north and south sides of Canyon Ferry Rd. is evacuated. Riverside Campground has been closed and there is a pending order to close the national forest in the area of the fire. Expected weather includes hot, dry and windy conditions with RH of 9-14 percent, and winds of 10-15 mph with gusts of 25 mph.