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Fire officials on Sunday identified two people killed in a plane crash over the weekend while monitoring the Cedar Basin Fire near Wikieup in Mohave County.
Matthew Miller, 48, and Jeff Piechura, 62, were on board the Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft when it crashed on Saturday, according to a statement from the Bureau of Land Management.
Miller was identified in the statement as a fire pilot employed with Falcon Executive Aviation, Inc, which is contracted by the U.S. Forest Service.
Piechura was an air tactical group supervisor employed by the Coronado National Forest. An air tactical group supervisor coordinates “incident airspace, manages incident air traffic, and is the link between ground personnel and incident aircraft,” according to National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
Their remains have been recovered from the crash cite, according to the statement.
“Our hearts and most sincere condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of both individuals lost in this tragic accident,” said Bureau of Land Management Arizona State Director Raymond Suazo.
“This reminds us of the inherent risks involved in wildland firefighting and the gratitude we owe to the courageous and committed men and women who serve willingly to protect lives, communities and natural resources,” Suazo continued.
Piechura dedicated more than 40 years to fire service
Piechura graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in fire management and a master’s degree in fire administration, according to Firehouse.com.
The Superstition Firefighters said on Facebook that Piechura was a retired fire chief from the Northwest Fire District in metro Tucson.
According to a news brief in The Arizona Republic in 2008, he began working for the district as a captain in 1984 and then went on to become chief in 1991. Piechura led the district for 24 years, according to a tweet from the district.
In 2005 he was named Fire Chief of the Year by the Arizona Fire Chief’s Association, the news article said. Ten years later Piechura was inducted into the Arizona Fire Service Hall of Fame, according to Firehouse.com.
He went on to become assistant chief of Sedona Fire District from March 2016 to May 2018, according to its current assistant chief of operations Jayson Coil. A post on the Sedona Fire District’s Facebook page said Piechura had more than 40 years of experience in the fire service across Arizona, the southwest and the U.S.
Another Facebook post from Arizona State Fire School said Piechura trained firefighters for years while serving on the Arizona State Fire Training Committee.
What we know about the crash so far
It’s unclear how exactly the plane crash occurred, but fire officials said it happened at about noon on July 10 while an “air attack aircraft” was doing “aerial reconnaissance” over the fire.
The agency further explained in a tweet that the plane provided aerial supervision and coordination for the Cedar Basin Fire’s aviation resources.
The Department of Interior Office of Aviation Services, in conjunction with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, are investigating the accident, according to the Bureau.
Eric Weiss, spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, in an email said the board was investigating the crash. A preliminary report would be issued in two weeks, while a full investigation could take one to two years, Weiss said.
Saturday’s plane crash occurred days after the one year anniversary of another deadly crash that killed a pilot responding to the Polles Fire near Payson. The pilot was identified as 37-year-old Bryan Boatman.
No further details about the crash were provided.
The Cedar Basin Fire was first reported to officials on July 9 after thunderstorms hit the area, according to InciWeb, a wildfire tracking website operated by the U.S. Forest Service. It was located about 14 miles northeast of Wikieup in Mohave County.
The accident site is located a half mile south of the fire area and is not threatened by the Cedar Basin Fire.
The fire had grown to more than 700 acres with no containment as of Sunday.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels.
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