Sheriff Helicopter Destroyed in Fire : Cheeseboro Canyon: The pilot is hurt in accident during a controlled burn. The chopper ignites after landing on a hill.

The newest and best-equipped of five Ventura County Sheriff’s Department helicopters caught fire and was destroyed Wednesday after its pilot landed on a hill near a controlled burn in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, officials said.

Pilot Chris Spangenberg, 48, of Camarillo suffered first- and second-degree burns in the accident. Crew Chief Jeff Lawrence, 42, of Oxnard also was on board when the fire started but escaped injury, officials said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Harold Humphries said he did not know why the pilot of the helicopter, which had been dropping incendiary devices on the controlled burn, landed near the burn area east of Thousand Oaks. But he said the landing was not out of the ordinary.

“It’s not unusual, maybe if they want to observe the controlled burn from an area that’s safer than flying overhead,” Humphries said.

Spangenberg was taken to the burn unit at Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, where he was listed in satisfactory condition with first- and second-degree burns to his face, one arm and one leg, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A 14-year department veteran, Spangenberg was credited with taking “heroic” measures in an attempt to save the specially equipped Bell 206 L3 helicopter, valued at $1 million, said Undersheriff Richard Bryce. The 5-year-old chopper was insured against loss, Bryce said.

The fire apparently started underneath the helicopter’s belly after it landed near the burn area, Bryce said. Lawrence ran clear, while Spangenberg tried to take off to get the machine away from the flames. But he couldn’t get enough power to lift off, Bryce said.

“He had to evacuate, but by then the fire had spread to the point where he had to run through the flames to get away from the helicopter,” Bryce said. “That’s how he got burned.”

Officials would not speculate on the fire’s cause, which was under investigation by fire officials and the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

No damage estimate was available for the chopper, but it was believed destroyed, said Sgt. Humphries. The resulting fire charred 10 acres apart from the 500-acre controlled burn before it was contained, officials said.

“The tail section is left, that’s it,” Humphries said.

The helicopter had been helping since early morning to set the controlled fire in Cheeseboro Canyon by dropping incendiary devices before it caught fire about 10:40 a.m.

A special machine located under the helicopter was used to drop plastic devices about the size of Ping-Pong balls, which set off “little puffs of flame” on impact with the ground, said Rod Megli, the Fire Department’s resource unit leader at the scene.

The balls are filled with a chemical, Megli said. As they are prepared for release, a steel needle injects them with a different chemical that reacts to create fire 30 seconds after the chemicals are mixed, Megli said.

After igniting some areas of the burn site, the helicopter flew about a half-mile northeast of the burn area to land, apparently to observe the operation from a distance, Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells said. After the fire started, the two occupants radioed for help, Wells said.

A second Sheriff’s Department helicopter was assisting the Fire Department and National Park Service by dropping water on the controlled blaze. That helicopter transported Spangenberg to the hospital, officials said.

Before attempting a controlled burn, fire officials wait for the right temperature, wind conditions and humidity, officials said. The fire went as planned, Wells said.

“It would be considered a textbook burn,” Wells said. “It stayed well within its boundaries.”

Setting fires in areas where natural blazes have not occurred in a long time gets rid of very dry grasses that can be fire hazards, clears out exotic plant life that threatens to overtake indigenous species and acts as a barrier if a fire starts elsewhere and spreads, officials said.

Fire had not occurred naturally in Cheeseboro Canyon for about 10 years, Wells said. It could have posed a fire threat to Oak Park, which lies just over a ridge from the burn site, Fire Department spokesman Mike Valley said.