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The body of a 38-year-old pilot whose plane crashed Friday while fighting wildfires Northwest of Cold Lake has been recovered.

 According to the Cold Lake RCMP, the man, whose identity is not being released, was the sole occupant of the aircraft that crashed near Burnt Lake on the Cold Lake Air Weapons range  on May 22.

An out-of-control fire that started on May 22 is burning nearby. By Saturday afternoon, the blaze had grown to 4,000 hectares.

The pilot was flying an Air Tractor AT-802 "Fire boss" amphibious water bomber for Conair Aerial Firefighting, under contract to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD).

The pilot's body was recovered with the help of the search and rescue team from 4 Wing Cold Lake.

"In the crash situation, we did launch 417 combat support squadron to provide over watch support with their helicopter equipment," said 4 Wing spokesperson Lt. Mat Strong. "They did lower one of their (search and rescue) techs to the ground to assist with the recovery of ... the downed pilot."

Strong extended condolences to the family and loved ones of the pilot.

Strong said the base was also supporting firefighting efforts by assisting with access to the weapons range. ESRD is taking the lead on the firefighting, he said.

On Saturday morning, the road to the crash site was closed, as was public access to the range. By Saturday afternoon, the road was "engulfed" in flames, an ESRD spokesperson said.

According to the RCMP, though "wildfire conditions in the area are making access to the crash site difficult ... the scene has been secured for investigators."

Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board were dispatched to the site and are working to determine the cause of the crash.

The coroner's office will assist in determining the cause of death.

The dead pilot was a four-year veteran of the firefighting service.

"This was his fourth season, so he was well-experienced," said Jeff Barry, Conair spokesperson.

Barry said the single-seater plane was relatively new, built in 2009.

"It's a single engine air tanker that scoops water off of lakes," he added.

Barry expressed his condolences to the friends and family of the pilot, and expressed his gratitude to ESRD and the search and rescue team for their quick response. 

Premier Designate Rachel Notley issued a statement Saturday in regards to the death of the pilot.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of a pilot whose plane crashed while fighting a wildland fire near Cold Lake," the statement read.

“On behalf of the Government of Alberta and all Albertans, I offer my deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the pilot who lost his life protecting our province from a threatening wildfire."

Investigation underway

John Lee of the Transportation Safety board said the fire could affect more than just the safety of the investigators.

"We obtain a lot of information of course in the early stages of the investigation by examining the wreckage. If the wildfire has gone through the accident site, then that makes the job a lot harder because a lot of information is lost."

Though Lee wasn't able to give a precise timeline on how the investigation will take shape, he did say that, depending on the fire, investigators will be out in the field collecting information for the next two to three days.

"We collect a bunch of information in ...  three areas, man, machine and environment, and we start to eliminate those areas that are determined non-causal, or didn't contribute to the accident," Lee said. " It's not a quick process by any means."

After the field, investigators will collect information electronically from the company, from Environment and Nav Canada, and from the military, as the aircraft would have been under military air traffic control when it crashed. The TSB will look at the pilot's experience, the upkeep of the plane and environmental factors in its investigation, and "start the process of trying to understand not just what happened, but eventually why it happened," Lee said.

--with files from Postmedia Network

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