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The Rocky Mountain Collegian

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The Rocky Mountain Collegian

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Update: Pilot dies in plane crash fighting Kruger Rock Fire

An Air Tractor aircraft flys reconnaissance over the Kruger Rock fire southeast of Estes Park Colorado Nov. 16. (Garrett Mogel | The Collegian)
An Air Tractor aircraft flys reconnaissance over the Kruger Rock fire southeast of Estes Park Colorado Nov. 16. (Garrett Mogel | The Collegian)

Update Nov. 16 at 10:37 p.m.

At 10:22 p.m., the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office reported that they located the site of the plane crash at 9:49 p.m. after a three-hour search. The pilot, who was the only person in the plane, did not survive the crash. 

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The plane crashed at the south end of Hermit Park, according to the LCSO release. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will led the investigation into the cause of the crash.

As of 6:30 p.m., the Kruger Rock Fire had reached 133 acres with 15% containment. LCSO said crews will monitor the fire overnight and operations will continue at 7 a.m. Wednesday. 

“An investigation into the cause of the fire has revealed high winds blew a tree onto a nearby power line causing it to arc and start the fire,” an LCSO update said.

Original story

An air tanker fighting the Kruger Rock Fire is missing, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. The single engine air tanker is believed to have crashed.

This was the first time a fixed-wing aircraft was used to fight a fire at night in Colorado. CO Fire Aviation, the company that owns the plane, is trying to find more information, and crews are searching around the area as well.

More updates to come as this story develops.

Reach Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis at news@collegian.com  or on Twitter @katrinaleibee and @serenaroseb. 

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About the Contributors
Katrina Leibee, Editor-in-Chief
Katrina Leibee is serving as The Rocky Mountain Collegian's editor in chief for the 2021-22 academic year. Leibee started at The Collegian during the fall of her freshman year writing for the opinion desk. She then moved up to assistant opinion editor and served as the opinion director for the 2020-21 academic year. Leibee is a journalism and political science double major, but her heart lies in journalism. She enjoys writing, editing and working with a team of people to create the paper more than anything. Ask anyone, Leibee loves her job at The Collegian and believes in the great privilege and opportunity that comes with holding a job like this. The biggest privilege is getting to work with a team of such smart, talented editors, writers, photographers and designers. The most important goal Leibee has for her time as editor in chief is to create change, and she hopes her and her staff will break the status quo for how The Collegian has previously done things and for what a college newspaper can be. From creating a desk dedicated entirely to cannabis coverage to transitioning the paper into an alt-weekly, Leibee hopes she can push the boundaries of The Collegian and make it a better paper for its readers and its staff. Leibee is not one to accept a broken system, sit comfortably inside the limits or repeat the words, "That's the way we've always done things." She is a forward thinker with a knack for leadership, and she has put together the best staff imaginable to bring The Collegian to new heights.
Serena Bettis, Editor in Chief
Serena Bettis is your 2022-23 editor in chief and is in her final year studying journalism and political science. In her three years at The Collegian, Bettis has also been a news reporter, copy editor, news editor and content managing editor, and she occasionally takes photos, too. When Bettis was 5, her family moved from Iowa to a tiny town northwest of Fort Collins called Livermore, Colorado, before eventually moving to Fort Collins proper. When she was 8 years old, her dad enrolled at Colorado State University as a nontraditional student veteran, where he found his life's passion in photojournalism. Although Bettis' own passion for journalism did not stem directly from her dad, his time at CSU and with The Collegian gave her the motivation to bite down on her fear of talking to strangers and find The Collegian newsroom on the second day of classes in 2019. She's never looked back since. Considering that aforementioned fear, Bettis is constantly surprised to be where she is today. However, thanks to the supportive learning environment at The Collegian and inspiring peers, Bettis has not stopped chasing her teenage dream of being a professional journalist. Between working with her section editors, coordinating news stories between Rocky Mountain Student Media departments and coaching new reporters, Bettis gets to live that dream every day. When she's not in the newsroom or almost falling asleep in class, you can find Bettis working in the Durrell Marketplace and Café or outside gazing at the beauty that is our campus (and running inside when bees are nearby). This year, Bettis' goals for The Collegian include continuing its trajectory as a unique alt-weekly newspaper, documenting the institutional memory of the paper to benefit students in years to come and fostering a sense of community and growth both inside the newsroom and through The Collegian's published work. Bettis would like to encourage anyone with story ideas, suggestions, questions, concerns or comments to reach out to her at editor@collegian.com.
Garrett Mogel, Photo Director
Garrett Mogel is a third-year journalism student with a second field in philosophy. He is one of two photo directors for the 2023-24 school year.  Growing up in Colorado and surrounded by dreamlike landscapes and adventure sports, it was only a matter of time before Mogel picked up a camera. For over a decade, Mogel explored Colorado, portaging rivers, postholing through several feet of snow, rappelling over cliffs and skinning up mountains, all with a camera in hand. Through his adventures, Mogel began attaching stories to images and began to engage viewers in conversation about their favorite areas. Eventually, Mogel’s passion for photography and storytelling drew him to pursue a degree and career in photojournalism.  In his years at college, Mogel has worked with The Collegian every year. In progressing through the publication, Mogel has seen all the ways student media fosters growth both individually as well as through collaboration. Additionally, the opportunity to witness how impactful a story can be on a personal, organizational and community level is his greatest lesson thus far.  Beyond The Collegian, Mogel still finds time to appreciate his Colorado upbringing. When not on assignment, he can usually be found mountain biking, skiing, camping, river surfing or at home planning his next adventure.

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