As Colorado Burns, Another Firefighter Killed

A pilot battling a Colorado wildfire was killed Sunday when his firefighting aircraft crashed into a remote mountain reservoir. Authorities say the aircraft went down in Silver Jack Reservoir in southwestern Gunnison County around 5:15pm; a dive team later recovered the pilot's body from the wreckage, per the Guardian. Officials have not yet released the pilot's name, pending notification of relatives.

The aircraft had been assisting with the Gold Mountain fire, which has charred more than 35,000 acres and was 13% contained Monday, with evacuations ordered in parts of Ouray and Gunnison counties, per the Denver Post. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. A day before the crash, fire managers had announced an effort to create a containment line stretching from Pinnacle Peak to Silver Jack Reservoir, which covers 300 acres.

The death comes amid a punishing wildfire stretch in Colorado, where multiple large fires—including the Ferris, Willow, and Aspen Acres fires—continue to burn, and follows a late-June incident that killed three firefighters along the Colorado-Utah border. They were identified as Emily Barker, 38; Nick Hutcherson, 27; and Sydney Watson, 27.