ASOTIN, WASHINGTON
JULY 1, 2015
UPDATED 8:40 P.M.: A second person is confirmed dead in the
crash, according to Asotin County Sheriff John Hilderbrand. Identities of the
people in the crash have not been released.
ORIGINAL STORY: A fatal helicopter crash was discovered
Wednesday afternoon in the area of a 390-acre wildfire in Ayers Gulch south of
Asotin.
At least one person was killed in the crash at Ayers Gulch,
about seven miles south of Asotin, according to Asotin County Sheriff John
Hilderbrand. The crash was unrelated to firefighting activities, said Noel
Hardin, chief of Asotin County Fire District No 1.
The person killed has not been identified. The sheriff's
office is securing the scene for National Transportation Safety Board
investigators who will arrive Thursday.
Scot Gleason, chief deputy of Nez Perce County Sheriff’s
Office said the office received a report of an overdue helicopter earlier
today. The county’s air posse was deployed and pilots initiated a grid search
to find the aircraft. The helicopter was found this afternoon in Ayers Gulch by
firefighters.