(Newberry) July 13, 2004 - It was a long day for all of the crews on the scene of a four person fatal helicopter crash in the Sumter National Forest. It was so hot the Red Cross was there most of the day handing out food and water.
A service road now goes through the heavy woods to the crash site of the Spartanburg Regional Hospital helicopter. The scene was completely overgrown earlier in the day.
The Newberry County Sheriff's Department knows the area and knew they would need help. They called in reinforcements from the Forest Service. Dick Rosemier with the Forest Service says the trees are so dense you can hardly see more than a few feet in front of you, "This area behind us is heavily wooded, a lot of trees back there and it is, it would be a rough go for getting rescuers in there."
The Service brought in six workers for four hours Tuesday morning to blaze a road for trucks and equipment. They used bulldozers and their hands to clear brush and limbs.
Rosemier says crews did get a small reprieve on the location of the crash site, "The helicopter crashed near the Palmetto Trail, a hiking path that will eventually walk from the mountains to the ocean. That made providing a path wide enough for vehicles a little easier. It crashed near the trail, which was lucky because the trail did help facilitate getting equipment in there."
Clearing the trees around the helicopter was tough, physically and emotionally. Rosemier says work like this is something forest workers don't see everyday. He says a lot of his workers were deeply affected by what they saw.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, the Newberry County Sheriff's Department, along with fire and rescue squads are expected to be on the scene through the rest of the night and the next couple of days.
By Heather Brown
Posted 5:33pm by BrettWitt
