Dedication of Krassel Memorial To Take Place This Saturday
News Release, Payette National Forest, August 11, 2009 [here]
The dedication ceremony for a memorial honoring those killed during a helicopter crash in 2006 will take place this Saturday, August 15, 2009. The memorial will honor pilot Quinn Stone and passengers Monica Zajanc, Michael Lewis and Lillian Patten all of whom were killed in the crash on the Payette National Forest near the town of Yellow Pine on August 13, 2006.
The dedication ceremony will begin at 3:00 PM. Those planning to attend should park at the East Fork South Fork Bridge construction area near the intersection of South Fork Salmon River Road and East Fork South Fork Road no later than 2:30 PM. The ceremony should last about 45 minutes. Attendees are invited to the Krassel Helibase at the Krassel Work Center at noon for a barbeque lunch prior to the ceremony.
The East Fork South Fork Bridge area will be signed to direct visitors to the river bank where rubber rafts will be stationed to ferry visitors across the river. The memorial site is a quarter mile hike from the drop off point. Attendees should wear sturdy shoes and be prepared for warm weather. The dedication ceremony will take place rain or shine. Signs will be posted throughout the area directing people to the memorial dedication site.
The memorial overlooks the crash site. A plaque embedded in a rock pedestal and a bench will commemorate the accident and trees have been planted around the site to aid the restoration of the area, which burned during the fires of 2007.
Donations to the memorial may be sent to: Wildland Firefighters Foundation, Krassel Memorial Fund, 2049 Airport Way, Boise, ID 83705. Checks should be made out to the Wildland Firefighters Foundation with “Krassel Memorial Funds” written in the memo line.
Attendees may drive up the South Fork Salmon River Road via Warm Lake Highway and park at the bridge construction site. Rafts will ferry attendees across the river to the other side. The EFSF Bridge is in the process of being replaced.
Note: see also In Memorium: Lillie May Patten, Monica Lee Zajanc, Michael Gene Lewis, and Quin Stone [here]