A spokesperson for the RCMP says a helicopter that was helping to fight a wildfire about an hour west of Edmonton crashed near Evansburg, Alta., on Monday night.
RCMP told Global News on Tuesday that the pilot died in the crash. They did not provide an age nor gender.
Mounties were called to a report of a helicopter crash in a remote area near Evansburg, west of Highway 22 and north of Highway 16, at about 6:30 p.m.
In addition to Mounties being called to the scene, the RCMP said firefighters, paramedics and personnel with Alberta Wildfire were also deployed.
“The location is not accessible by road,” police said. “Police continue to investigate.
“No further details are available at this time.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada provided a brief statement on the crash Tuesday morning, saying it is deploying a team of investigators following an accident involving a Bell 212 helicopter.
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“The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence,” the TSB said in its statement.
Global News has reached out to Alberta Agriculture and Forestry for more information about what happened.
Alberta’s agriculture minister said he was very sad to learn about the contract pilot’s death.
“While we mourn a life lost in the line of duty, Alberta’s brave first responders continue to put themselves in danger every day to protect Alberta families. For that, we thank them,” Devin Dreeshen said in a Tuesday statement.
“I ask Albertans to do all that they can to prevent wildfires so that our first responders can get home safe.”
The helicopter was helping to fight a wildfire that began burning northwest of Evansburg and forced the temporary evacuation of nearby homes.
READ MORE: Alberta crews continue to battle out-of-control wildfire in Yellowhead County
As of 10 p.m. Monday night, Alberta Wildfire’s website showed that the blaze near Evansburg was about 175 hectares in size and classified as “being held.”
Evansburg is about 100 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Watch below: Some Global News videos about a wildfire burning in Yellowhead County.
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