PORT ORCHARD — At least one person was reported dead in the crash of a small helicopter in south Kitsap County, between Port Orchard and Gig Harbor.
The Kitsap County sheriff’s office says at least one person died in the crash, shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday, in a home’s back yard along Banner Road, in the Olalla area.
Spokesman Scott Wilson says the copter appeared to be a kit-built aircraft.
There was no word of any damage to buildings or other people on the ground.
Heidi Bennett, who lives near the crash site, told the Kitsap Sun that she was gardening when she heard the helicopter’s engine sputtering.
She said the helicopter started to “fishtail” before going down behind a hill.
Bellevue: I-405 project ends a week early
The state Department of Transportation says a project to widen heavily traveled I-405 in Bellevue has been completed a week ahead of schedule.
The Wilburton Tunnel was demolished in two weekends, not three as had been anticipated by the Transportation Department.
The department says the stretch of freeway between SE 80th Street and I-90 was to reopen at 5 a.m. today.
Silverdale: Hotel fire blamed on beauty bark
Beauty bark that somehow fell into a hotel’s ventilation system and caught fire is being blamed for smoke that filled parts of the hotel and led to the evacuation of about 130 guests.
No injuries were reported from Saturday afternoon’s two-alarm blaze.
The guests of the Oxford Suites Hotel were able to return to their rooms after the building was checked.
Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Theresa MacLennan said smoke traveled through the building’s heating and air-conditioning system. How the beauty bark caught on fire is under investigation.
Olympia: Trail closing in Nisqually refuge restoration
The one-half-mile Ring Dike Trail at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge will be closed and removed, effective today.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the trail removal is part of an ongoing project to restore the refuge’s estuary for the Nisqually River where it empties into Puget Sound between Tacoma and Olympia.
Other trails at the refuge remain open.
The $12 million restoration project will restore tidal influence to about 762 acres of diked land at the refuge. It’s designed to provide increased habitat and food for Puget Sound chinook salmon, which are threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Oregon: Mount Hood Fire uncontained
Firefighters say they have no clear idea when the forest fire on the north side of Mount Hood, now at about 800 acres, will be contained. Fire officials said it jumped its containment lines to the north on Saturday afternoon and that ground crews were pulled back for safety reasons.
The lightning-caused fire is visible from Highway 35 and firefighters are trying to protect historic structures at Cloud Cap Inn and the Tilly Jane campground.
Efforts are hampered by the fire’s remote location, snags that are slowing efforts to clear a line around it and a deep layer of dry duff, tree needles and other debris, that covers the forest floor. Containment as of Sunday was listed around 5 percent.
Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
