by: The Associated Press, Phil Rankin

Posted: Jul 13, 2026 / 02:05 PM MDT

Updated: Jul 13, 2026 / 05:36 PM MDT

GUNNISON, Colo. (AP/KDVR) — Officials have identified the helicopter pilot who died in a crash while helping fight the Gold Mountain Fire in southwest Colorado.

The pilot was 56-year-old Nicholas Dale of Sooke, British Columbia, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday afternoon.

The aircraft was reported down Sunday in the Silver Jack Reservoir and the pilot’s body was recovered by divers, the sheriff’s office said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was a Kaman Aerospace K-1200 helicopter that “crashed under unknown circumstances, becoming inverted,” according to its preliminary report.