Incident Name: Russian River Fire
Date: June 29, 1969
Personnel: Mark Westover
Age: 18
Agency/Organization: US Forest Service
Position: Firefighter
Summary: On June 29, 1969, while operating on the Russian River Fire near Cooper Landing, Alaska, an Army H21 helicopter carrying six firefighters and three crew members lost power and crashed. Seven were injured. Mark Westover, 18, of Anchorage, AK was killed.
Maps
Russian River Fire near Cooper Landing, Alaska
{mosmap lat=’60.486673’|lon=’-149.858848’|marker=’0’|text=’Cooper Landing, AK’}
about one mile from the plaque location (If you know where that is, please let us know.)
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
Plaque memorializing Mark Westover and “all the firefighters who have lost their lives while protecting our nation’s natural resources from a wildland fire.”
Text: On June 29, 1969, while operating on the Russian River Fire an Army H21 helicopter carrying six firefighters and three crew members lost power and crashed about one mile from here. Seven were injured. Mark Westover, 18, of Anchorage was killed.
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Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
- Piasecki H–21 Workhorse/Shawnee – Army assault helicopter
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
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- Alaska State Firefighters Memorial: Mark Westover
Mark Westover
Wildland Firefighter
Dept. of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service
Died: June 29, 1969While fighting a fire on the Russian River near Cooper Landing, Alaska an Army H21 helicopter carrying six firefighters and three crew members lost power and crashed. Seven of the members were injured and Mark Westover of Anchorage was killed. He was 18 years old.
A plaque dedicated to his memory has been erected along the Russian River hiking trail approximately one mile from the location of the incident.
- Alaska State Fire Fighters Association Memorial: Mark Westover
Contributors to this article: Guy Pence, the Wilidland Firefighter Foundation
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