Scientific Burn of Brush Ends When Copter Crashes at Site

A long-delayed experimental brush fire in the Angeles National Forest was abruptly canceled Wednesday morning when a county helicopter crashed moments after igniting a small fire to test the flammability of the brush.

The pilot of the Fire Department helicopter “walked away from the crash,” officials said, but the accident postponed the $750,000 project at least until next Tuesday, and perhaps until next spring. A decision could be made Friday.

The fire, originally planned by U.S. Forest Service scientists as a simple burn-off of overgrown brush, has became the focus of widespread attention because scientists working for the Defense Department decided to use the opportunity to test, among other things, the controversial theory of “nuclear winter.” The theory holds that smoke from fires ignited in a nuclear war would block sunlight and chill the Earth.

The fire had been delayed about a dozen times by rain and high winds. But on Wednesday, except for low humidity, conditions looked perfect for the burn, said Philip Riggan, the U.S. Forest Service scientist in charge of the array of research projects focused on the fire.

And shortly after dawn, more than 300 forestry and fire personnel and scientists gathered around Lodi Canyon, 30 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, to set and study the fire in 1,000 acres of chaparral.

At 10:30 a.m., a Los Angeles County Fire Department Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter flew into the north end of the steep-walled canyon and ignited a five-acre stretch of brush in a test burn designed to check the level of moisture in the vegetation.

The test fire was lit with a “helitorch,” a 55-gallon drum of jellied gasoline suspended from the helicopter on a 30-foot cable. The gasoline dribbled out of the container and was ignited as it fell by an electric spark.

The brush caught fire readily and bright orange flames leaped up the steep slopes, climbing from the canyon floor to the ridge tops in 30 seconds.

‘Helicopter Down’

Then the helicopter disappeared over the ridge at the far end of the canyon. Within seconds, radios all around the project site crackled with the words, “We have a helicopter down.”

The helitorch hanging from the helicopter had snagged on a telephone line running along the ridge, according to Fire Department Capt. Garry Oversby. The jet-powered helicopter crash-landed on the 45-degree slope and tumbled 90 feet, breaking in pieces as it rolled. Its main rotor blades and stabilizing tail rotor flew apart.

At least 30 firefighters and other personnel were assembled along the ridge road where the helicopter crashed, and a piece of the craft’s shattered rotors struck a door of a Forest Service truck nearby, but no one on the ground was injured.

The pilot, Gary Lineberry, “crawled out of the wreckage and climbed up the hill,” Oversby said. Lineberry, 44, of Valencia, was taken to Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora, where he was treated for minor injuries and released, Oversby said.

Experienced Pilot

Lineberry has flown helicopters for 22 years, two of those in Vietnam and the last 10 years for the county Fire Department, said Jim Sanchez, chief of air operations. Lineberry has flown helicopter missions over at least 200 wildfires each year, he said, and about 40 controlled fires in the past year.

After the accident, fire crews and water-dropping helicopters quickly doused the test burn.

Joel S. Levine, a NASA scientist in charge of gas sampling experiments, said he was “deeply discouraged” by the setback, but added that some “valuable data” had been gathered from the test burn in the moments before the helicopter crashed.

Another helicopter, equipped by NASA to gather gas samples 100 feet above the flames, passed over the test burn just before the accident. The samples, to be analyzed in the next few days, are expected to contribute to the understanding of a global warming phenomenon called the “greenhouse effect,” Levine said.

Aircraft Diverted

Two aircraft that were set to sample the plume were diverted to another controlled burn, this one a 200-acre fire near San Diego, to collect samples there, said Bernie Zak, a scientist from Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico, which was operating one of the aircraft.

Fire and forestry officials and key scientists are to meet in Glendora Friday to decide whether to try to burn again next week or to put the project off until next spring, said Riggan.