Chopper pilot dies battling Twin Peaks fire

Monday, Aug. 14, 2000 | 1:56 a.m.

The victim was identified as Lester Shadrick, 53, of Lake Charles, La., an employee of Era Aviation Inc., since 1985. Era Aviation is based in Lake Charles but its Era Helicopters division flies locally out of the Reno-Stead airport.

Shadrick was the eighth person killed in this year's furious wildland fire season across the West and the second person killed this month in a helicopter accident in Nevada.

Bureau of Land Management public information officer Mark Struble said his agency calls companies like Era when they need help battling a blaze from the air.

"When we have a need in certain fires we call on these folks," he said. "This isn't one we use all of the time, but helicopter pilots all receive the same training."

The crash occurred about 4:40 p.m. on the east side of the Clan Alpine Mountains, north of U.S. 50, where the pilot was making water drops from a Bell 412 helicopter.

Struble said officials with the Interior Department's Office of Aircraft Services in Boise, Idaho, and from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived on Monday to begin an investigation.

Sunday's incident was the second death this month of a pilot battling Nevada fires. Phillip Connor, 29, was killed Aug. 3 in a crash at the O'Neil complex in northeastern Nevada.