Utah wildfire blocks rescuers from reaching firefighting helicopter crash site

Fate of two passengers onboard helicopter that went down Friday morning remains unknown after more than 24 hours

The fate of two passengers onboard a firefighting helicopter that crashed Friday morning in Utah remains unknown after more than 24 hours, as one of the country’s largest wildfires continues to grow, preventing authorities from safely reaching the accident site.

The Sikorsky S-64 helicopter, contracted by the US Forest Service, was responding on Friday to the Widemouth 2 fire, a blaze sparked in late July by lightning, when it crashed in a remote area of central Utah.