Mike Fournier a helicopter pilot died in an accident

Mike Fournier a helicopter pilot died in an accident while fighting one of the hundreds of wildfires currently taking place in California.

The pilot was identified as Mike Fournier, 52, from Rancho Cucamonga, an airline employee contracted by the state fire department who is survived by a wife and two daughters.

A helicopter pilot killed in an accident while extinguishing one of the hundreds of California wildfires was identified as an airline employee contracted by the state fire agency that left behind a wife and two daughters.

Mike Fournier a helicopter pilot died in an accident

Fournier died Wednesday morning when a Bell UH-1H helicopter crashed in a rural area south of Coalinga’s Central Valley city while on a mission to drop water on the Hills Fire, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

There was no one else on the plane.

Air and ground units responded to the scene, and his body was found late at night, the office said.

The pilot worked with Fillmore-based Guardian Helicopters, a contract with the state fire agency to provide emergency services, said Zoe Keliher, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Agency.