Sheriff’s Helicopter Crashes While Fighting Florida Wildfire

Marion County chopper went down in lake near Ocala wildfire

 

MARION COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – A Marion County sheriff’s deputy nearly made the ultimate sacrifice, while helping put out wildfires. Sgt. John Rawls was dumping buckets of water from a chopper on a massive Ocala wildfire when deputies say something went wrong and his helicopter went down in a lake.

“When you go through a helicopter crash, you need help now,” stressed Lauren Lettelier, Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, “we didn’t know the severity of his injuries; he was going through a bunch of adrenaline to even get to the shore. We’re thankful he even got out of it.”

See also  Wildfires in Chile Kill 112, Leave 1,600 Homeless

Topics

Newslettter

Subscribe to Our Monthly Newsletter

Stay in the loop with our wildland newsletter.

Marion County chopper went down in lake near Ocala wildfire   MARION COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – A Marion County sheriff’s deputy nearly made the ultimate sacrifice, while helping put out wildfires. Sgt. John Rawls was dumping buckets of water from a chopper on a massive Ocala wildfire when deputies say something went wrong […]

Get The Wildland Firefighter Newsletter

Related Articles

Californians Urged to Prepare Now for Fire Season

Californians Urged to Prepare Now for Fire Season

Darrell Smith - The Sacramento Bee SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians must fortify their homes against the ongoing threat of wildfire home by home, neighbor by neighbor and community by community. That’s the message state and local fire authorities are working to...

Wildfire in Sheridan County (ND) Injures Two Firefighters

Wildfire in Sheridan County (ND) Injures Two Firefighters

BRAD NYGAARD and BLAKE NICHOLSON The Bismarck Tribune, N.D. (TNS) Two firefighters were injured while helping battle a wildfire in Sheridan County over the weekend, and one of them was flown to a Twin Cities burn hospital. The blaze Saturday also destroyed a wildland...

Evacuations Ordered for McDowell County (NC) Wildfire

Evacuations Ordered for McDowell County (NC) Wildfire

The McDowell News, Marion, N.C. (TNS) Firefighters were on the scene of a wildfire in northern McDowell County Tuesday afternoon. Evacuations were ordered for the area around the fire. As of 4:15 p.m., emergency personnel were managing the fire on Armstrong Creek...