Yesterday morning, Montrose residents and local officials lined San Juan Avenue. They held American flags in their hands or draped them across their cars. The crowd was solemn as a line of emergency vehicles passed. The procession was escorting the body of Nicholas Dale, a helicopter pilot who died while fighting the Gold Mountain Fire.
The first responders stoically kept their eyes on the road ahead of them. But there was palpable emotion among the residents watching.
The Montrose Board of Commissioners delayed their meeting yesterday morning in order to attend the procession. Commissioner Hansen told us, “When you have people that are brave enough to risk their lives to help us and make life better for us, you can't help but be on this lineup with all these flags and get teary eyed because a young man gave his life in order to protect us, and so it's meaningful.”
Dale, the pilot, was a 56 year old man from Sooke, British Columbia. He was the sole occupant of the helicopter, which was engaged in suppression efforts for the Gold Mountain Fire. The aircraft went down around 5:17pm Sunday evening, and crashed into the Silver Jack Reservoir. The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office dive team were called out to the scene, and assisted the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office with the recovery.
Commissioner Kirsten Copeland said the procession’s attendance “reflects the Montrose community, how much our first responders mean to all of us. … All of those folks put themselves at risk every day to protect us, and I think this community recognizes that and shows up.”
The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
