JOHN DAY — Authorities have released the name of the air tanker pilot who died when his plane crashed while battling a Grant County wildfire.

James Bailey Maxwell, 74, was flying a single-engine air tanker dropping flame retardant on a lightning-sparked blaze in the vicinity of the Falls Fire when his aircraft was reported missing shortly before 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, near Seneca in Southern Grant County. 

“We immediately initiated a search for the aircraft … but were unable to locate the plane before dark,” said Lisa Clark, an information officer with the Bureau of Land Management. 

At that point, she said, a National Guard helicopter equipped with infrared and night vision equipment was called in, but it, too, was unsuccessful in locating the downed aircraft, which was fighting the fire under a contract with the BLM.

On Friday morning, a search and rescue team from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office joined the hunt, with help from wildland firefighters and local resources, and was able to find the aircraft and recover the pilot’s body.

In a news release on Sunday, July 28, Malheur National Forest officials disclosed Maxwell’s name and described him as a veteran member of the wildland firefighter community.

“James was an experienced pilot who had spent 54 years of his life flying and who had logged approximately 24,000 hours of flight time,” officials said in the release. “He is survived by and will be missed by family members in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.”

After Maxwell’s body was recovered on Friday, his remains were escorted to a John Day mortuary by an impromptu funeral procession.

Early Friday afternoon, a long line of official vehicles, some with their emergency lights flashing, was parked along Highway 395 in John Day across from the Driskill Memorial Chapel as firefighters and law enforcement personnel stood with their hats off in a show of respect for the downed pilot.

State troopers blocked traffic on the normally busy road as an ambulance bearing the pilot’s body delivered its burden to the funeral home.

In a statement on X, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, called the pilot’s death “a tragic example of the risks that all firefighters take every day to keep Oregonians safe in our homes and communities,” adding: “My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the pilot who sacrificed his life battling this fire in Eastern Oregon.”

The single-seat air tanker, about the size of a cropduster, is of a type widely used in wildland firefighting, with a tank that can hold uo to 800 gallons of fire retardant.

Its small size enables it to take off from and land on small, remote airstrips, allowing for shorter turnaround times when ferrying loads of retardant to wildfires, and it can get closer to the flames than larger aircraft.

“They can be really effective in sagebrush, open grass and anywhere the timber has a little opening,” Clark said.

The Forest Service and BLM are working with local law enforcement to determine the circumstances that led to the crash, and a Serious Accident Investigation Team will be called in to assist, according to a joint news release from the Forest Service and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

The Falls Fire broke out July 10 near the Falls Campground on the Malheur National Forest in northern Harney County. It has since grown to more than 140,000 acres and has spread into southern Grant County. 

As of Friday morning, 1,558 personnel from multiple agencies were battling the blaze, which was 55% contained.

The Telephone Fire, burning a few miles to the east, has now grown to 12,000 acres. Several smaller fires are also burning in the area, including some started by lightning in recent days.

The Falls Fire is believed to have been human-caused. Forest Service investigators are asking for the public’s assistance in the matter. Information that could aid the investigation can be submitted to SM.FS.R6TipHotLine@usda.gov.