UTFFEMT
07-17-2005, 11:01 AM
Boys suspected of firing rifle at air tankers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HILDALE, Utah -- Police confiscated a rifle from three boys suspected of firing shots at air tankers after another boy sparked a brush fire with fireworks.
The pilots had enough on their hands flying under hazardous conditions without being fired upon, said David Boyd, spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management's Arizona Strip office.
Boyd said the BLM dispatched three single-engine air tankers, a helicopter and other air support Thursday to help put out a 28-acre fire before it could grow larger.
Hildale Mayor David Zitting said the three juveniles denied a witness' account that they were firing shots at the airplanes but that police took their rifle anyway. It wasn't immediately clear if any of the planes were hit. Zitting said Hildale police and the Bureau of Land Management were looking into the matter.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HILDALE, Utah -- Police confiscated a rifle from three boys suspected of firing shots at air tankers after another boy sparked a brush fire with fireworks.
The pilots had enough on their hands flying under hazardous conditions without being fired upon, said David Boyd, spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management's Arizona Strip office.
Boyd said the BLM dispatched three single-engine air tankers, a helicopter and other air support Thursday to help put out a 28-acre fire before it could grow larger.
Hildale Mayor David Zitting said the three juveniles denied a witness' account that they were firing shots at the airplanes but that police took their rifle anyway. It wasn't immediately clear if any of the planes were hit. Zitting said Hildale police and the Bureau of Land Management were looking into the matter.