As hundreds of thousands of acres of land burn in Oregon, government agencies and rescue groups are working overtime to minimize the damage caused to local environment, infrastructure, and residential areas – and one tragic story reveals how a pilot has been found dead after his air tanker crashed.
Oregon authorities revealed on Friday how a pilot’s body was discovered after his air tanker fell out of the air as he attempted to put out what has become known as the Falls Fire. The statement came from an official Facebook post, which revealed the identity of the pilot.
“It is with great sadness that we share this post on the loss of one of our own, firefighting pilot James Bailey Maxwell,” the Falls and Telephone Fires 2024 page said. The post also included a photograph of Maxwell seated in the cockpit of his plane.
The post followed another statement from the U.S. Forest Service for Malheur National Forest, which confirmed that Maxwell, aged 74, died while working in the vicinity of the Falls Fire.
James was an experienced pilot who had spent 54 years of his life flying and who had logged approximately 24,000 hours of flight time. He is survived by and will be missed by family members in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington,” the statement reads.
Maxwell died operating a small air tanker which is designed to deliver as much as 800 gallons of water or fire retardant. As an experienced pilot, Maxwell was one of the most capable pilots to handle the highly maneuverable plane.
More About the Falls Fire
Categorized as a “megafire” by the U.S. Interagency Fire Center, the Falls Fire is a wildfire that continues to rage through sections of Eastern Oregon. Official figures reveal that there have been 11 injuries in total, one death, and 28 structures destroyed as a result of the fire.
It comes as the U.S. Forest Service warns that hundreds of thousands of acres of additional forestland across the Pacific Northwest are at risk as a result of this year’s record-breaking dry summer and heatwaves. Oregon and Washington have been exposed to over 60 fires this summer alone.
