HOUSTON – A final farewell was held Wednesday for a firefighter who was killed in March when a helicopter crashed in Montgomery County.
Dozens of members from the USDA Forest Service Honor Guard and local law enforcement honored forest service firefighter Daniel Laird with a special procession from Conroe to Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Laird was one of three people on the helicopter at the time of the crash.
According to authorities, the helicopter had been contracted by the United States Forest Service to help with a controlled burn operation in the Sam Houston National Forest.
The pilot, Morgan J. Kozloski, and a passenger, Kelly Callahen, were injured. Laird will be buried in California, where his family is from.
Jesse Snyder, who was visiting the running trails in the area, said he has seen smoke from controlled burns create low visibility.
"They’re usually pretty safe, so it’s a rare tragedy. It could be a really dangerous job, what they do, I’m sure. Just driving down the road, it gets thicker than fog sometimes," Snyder said.
Officials said the helicopter crashed under “unknown circumstances” around 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, near the intersection of Bethel Road and FM 149, an area close to one of the controlled burns, authorities said.