Forest Service firefighter was killed in a helicopter crash in Texas

The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Captain Daniel Laird, 41, of the United States Forest Service – Tahoe National Forest, on March 27, 2019.

While helping with an aerial delivered prescribed burn in the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas, Captain Daniel Laird’s helicopter went down. Laird passed away from the injuries he sustained in the crash. Other crew members sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Tribute is being paid to Captain Laird at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/

To date, nine firefighter fatalities has been reported to USFA in 2019. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ff_fatality_reports.html

Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.