Rancher Heard Plane Crash Near Edgemont

At least one person died when a military cargo plane from North Carolina crashed Sunday night while fighting the White Draw wildfire near Edgemont, South Dakota.

Information on the deadly air tanker crash has been difficult to come by.  But today we talked with a rancher near Edgemont who took us out to the area where the plane went down.

Sunday night, Edgemont rancher Mark Hollenbeck was at his home after a long weekend of trying to fight fires on his land. He says something unusual happened around 6 p.m.

"We heard something.  We thought that a door had slammed or something and got up and checked but didn't see anything.  My wife said that she felt the house shake a little, felt something going on," Hollenbeck said.

When authorities began showing up on his property, he learned an air tanker had gone down in the area.

"Hollenbeck says that the crash happened on Lone Mountain less than two miles from his house," Standup.

"I had heard that it looked like the plane came straight down and it didn't skid," Hollenbeck said.

The C-130 from the North Carolina Air National Guard was carrying a crew of six.  At least one crew member was killed.

"It was certainly a tragedy.  Our heart goes out to the families that were affected by that," Hollenbeck said.

It's not the first time the area has had to deal with the death of a firefighter.  The crash happened not far from where the Coal Canyon Fire turned deadly last August.