Mourning in the mountains

A fire truck heads toward a plume of smoke along Highway 299, where firefighters are battling blazes in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The crew aboard the helicopter that crashed Tuesday was working against the same fires.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

A map of the fire area is examined on a street in the town of Weaverville, where residents and firefighters reacted to the deaths from a helicopter crash. Nine were confirmed dead by officials on Thursday. Four were injured when the chopper ferrying firefighters crashed and burned.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Bill Hortsman of Weaverville, Calif., a former summer firefighter for 25 years, prepares to raise, and then lower, flags to half-staff at the Trinity County Historical Museum on Thursday in memory of a helicopter pilot and eight firefighters who were declared dead in the crash.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

A National Park Service ranger uses electrical tape to partially cover her badge in memory of those killed in the helicopter crash in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Forest Service employees speed by in a truck with a logo that has a black slash through it in memory of those killed.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

A Sikorsky S-61 helicopter operated by Carson Helicopters Inc. out of Grants Pass, Ore., drops flame retardant on a fire in Briceburg, Calif., about 12 miles from Yosemite National Park. The helicopter is similar to the one that crashed Tuesday in a remote area of Shasta-Trinity National Forest.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)