2 Firefighters Killed in Fast Idaho Blaze

Two firefighters were overrun by flames and killed soon after they were dropped by helicopter to battle a fast-moving blaze in a national forest in central Idaho, officials said Wednesday.

The fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest about 130 miles south of Missoula, Mont., was caused by lightning and was first reported Sunday night. Hot temperatures and wind blew it up from 120 acres to about 1,000 acres Tuesday night, officials said.

Killed were Jeff Allen, 23, of Salmon, and Shane Heath, 22, of Boise. Allen became a seasonal firefighter in 1999. Heath, a Boise State University student, had been a wild-land firefighter for four years.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Erin O’Connor said the deaths were under investigation.

Allen and Heath were the eighth and ninth firefighters to die nationwide since February, said Alan Hoffmeister, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Only one of the previous deaths was by fire; the others were caused by helicopter crashes and accidents.

The firefighters had just rappelled to the ground when they were overtaken by flames.

All firefighters were pulled from fighting the blaze after the two were killed.

“Firefighter safety is the No. 1 priority,” Forest Supervisor George Matejko said Wednesday. “The stand-down ensures that those involved on the fire have an opportunity to deal with the impact of the tragedy.”

The firefighters were part of a “helitack” crew. Such teams travel by helicopter to provide initial response to wild-land fires, sometimes dropping crew members on the ground to battle small blazes before they grow into large fires.