HELENA — A wildland firefighting plane assigned to the Horse Gulch Fire crashed Wednesday.
The incident happened right around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton confirmed the crash happened in the Hauser Lake portion of the Missouri River below the dam. According to Dutton, the plane was a contract plane for the Forest Service and was scooping water at the time of the crash.
Dutton says one pilot was aboard the plane, the pilot's condition is unknown at this time.
The Horse Gulch Fire is burning about five miles south of York and two miles north of Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
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As of Wednesday afternoon the fire was listed at 450 acres and 0% contained.
Dutton say the FAA and the NTSB have been notified and will lead the investigation.
At about 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office issued a pre-evacuation notice for the areas of Horse Gulch and Cave Gulch due to the wildfire, and asked residents to be aware of changing conditions and be prepared to evacuate.
This is a developing story, MTN has reporters on the scene and will update you when additional details are available.
