FILLMORE, Utah — A procession for Chris Andersen and Miles Elliott, the pilots killed while fighting the Widemouth 2 Fire, was held Friday so that the bodies of the men could return home to their families and their final resting places.
Andersen and Elliott were killed in a helicopter crash last week,
The procession began at the State Medical Examiner's Office in Taylorsville and lasted about 20 minutes until its arrival at Salt Lake City International Airport.
“It feels like we’re finally getting some closure on what’s been a really difficult week.
For our agency, for our crews and for our wildland fire community," said fire official Sierra Hellstrom.
Everyone who could attend the procession and wasn’t on the front lines fighting a fire was there.
“We really are a family, and we show up for one another," said Hellstrom. "In the best times, but also the hardest time."
The Porterville Fire Department said Elliott was the pilot of the Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter that crashed Friday in Richfield. Elliott and Andersen were killed in the incident.
Both pilots were under contract by the U.S. Forest Service and employees of Helicopter Transport Services.
Elliott served on the town's Little League board, the mayor added, "giving his time and talents back to the community he loved." He also introduced young people to flying through the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles Flights Program.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family Elliott leaves behind, and flags will be lowered at all official Porterville facilities in honor of Elliott.
Andersen was 64 years old. His career took him from the NATO frontier to the oil fields of Africa to flying the prime minister of Haiti. But his passion was fighting wildfires.
Chris Andersen lived in the Lake Tahoe area, loved to ski, and was a voracious reader. Friends and fellow aviators knew him as a consummate professional — disciplined, steady, exacting, and dependable.
He was just months away from retirement and had planned carefully for it.
Friday's procession will start in Taylorsville at 11:00 a.m. and will end at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Utah Highway Patrol will be providing escort and traffic control along the route.
The public is welcomed to show their support along the route.