Grayback Officials Discuss Details of Crash

Grayback Forestry President Mike Wheelock has been in Sacramento visiting the injured firefighters.

He issued a statement Thursday, saying the 10 firefighters on the helicopter were part of a 20-person crew. Wheelock said the crew had been working on defending a section of critical line, but when the weather changed, they were evacuated off the mountainside.

He says half the crew was taken back to base camp.

The helicopter crashed as it was leaving with the remainder of the crew.

Officials say all Grayback resources from the Iron Complex Fire are headed back to their White City home base and are expected to arrive this week.

Officials say they will be debriefed and offered counseling.

Community support has begun appearing around the Merlin area, along with a flier at a local Ray's Food Place.

Employees say they wanted to show support for the firefighters and their families even if they didn't know them.

"We always tell people theres not one tree or not one piece of ground worth losing your life over," Mike Wheelock said at a news conference Thursday. "There are tens of thousands of people out there, in helicopters, fighting fire...it's a very very dangerous occupation."

Wheelock said many of the other Grayback crews are standing down, and returning home to be with their families.

The name of one firefighter who was killed in the crash has still not been released. Grayback representatives say they are still trying to get in contact with his family.