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JEFFREY McDONALD
Reprinted with Permission, Fort Stockton Pioneer

The Glass Mountain Fire has charred nearly 40,000 acres across two counties. And it has now claimed at least one life. Carl Ray Payne, 66, of Katy, Texas, was killed Sunday morning, May 7, when the aircraft he was piloting crashed in the rugged mountan country of northeastern Brewster County.

Carl Ray Payne, 66 of Kay, Texas, was killed Sunday morning, May 7, when the aircraft he was piloting crashed in the rugged mountain country of northeastern Brewster County.

Payne was operating an Air Tractor aircraft called a SEAT or single-engine air tanker. It very much resembles a crop duster, but is specially adapted for firefighting. He had arrived in Fort Stockton, Texas, the previous day as part of efforts by the Texas Forest Service to assist local firefighters combating the Glass Mountain Fire.

Payne was one of two pilots operating firefighting aircraft out of the Pecos County Airport in Fort Stackton, under contract to the Forest Sercice to deliver water and chemical retardent on the blaze which was still out of control at that time. Centered in the rugged, remote mountain country of Pecos and far from serviceable roads, some points of the fire could only be attacked from the air.

Payne had reportedly just completed a run over the fire and was in the process of pulling out-still close to the ground-when his craft stuck a transmission tower. He is believed to have died instantly. Official details of the crash are not yet available.

It is reportedly under investigation by the Brewster County Sheriff’s Department and thee National Transportation Safety Board, both of which were hampered by the remote location of the accident.

Officials of Payne’s company have already visited the scene of the week-long firefighting effort, and another aircraft had been dispatched to the scene as of Tuesday afternoon.

This is the first fatality suffered during a Texas Forest Service operation in more than a decade. The last occurred in 1990, when a bulldozer operator died during a firefighting effort.

Payne was born in Mertzon, Texas, and grew up in the town of Pecos, in nearby Reeves County. A veteran of the United States Air Force, he was described as an experienced pilot who had flown many kinds of aircraft over the yeqars. He is survived by his wife, three children and seven grandchildren.