4 Dead in Wash. Helicopter Crash

EASTON, Wash. – Authorities confirmed Friday that four people died when their helicopter crashed and sparked a wildfire a day earlier along a steep slope in the Cascade Range that had hampered efforts to get to the wreckage.

Crews recovered three of the bodies, but the fourth will not be recovered until Saturday as the investigation continues, Kittitas County Undersheriff Clayton Myers said.

The pilot was Keiko Minakata of Classic Helicopter, a charter company based at Boeing Field in Seattle, Myers said. She had been with the company since March 2005.

Also killed were Robert Hagerman, owner of Formark Marketing Enterprises, a timber company in Everett, and two potential timber buyers, South Korean citizens Hyun Song and Si Lee, Myers said.

At least 400 firefighters were being deployed to battle the nearly 500-acre blaze, fire information officer Scott Crawford said.

The fire was burning in steep timber south of Easton, about 60 miles east-southeast of Seattle on the east slope of the Cascade Range.

“We have one way in and one way out, which is a big safety challenge,” he said. “There’s going to be a super focus on safety in fighting this fire.”

The fire was not immediately threatening any buildings. An unoccupied cabin sits about a mile away.