The lone occupant of a water bomber that crashed Friday afternoon in northern Alberta has died, a company spokesman confirmed.

Jeff Berry of Conair Aerial Firefighting told the Sun the plane, an AT-802 Fireboss amphibious water bomber, crashed just after 4:30 p.m. MDT, about 40 km north of Cold Lake near the Saskatchewan border.

ESRD crews are fighting an out-of-control 300 ha wildfire on CFB Cold Lake’s air weapons range,  near an Imperial Oil facility.

Berry said the 37-year old pilot was no stranger to fighting wildfires.

“This was his fourth season, so he was well-experienced,” Berry said.

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

He expressed his condolences to the friends and family of the pilot, and expressed his gratitude to ESRD and Cold Lake Search and Rescue for their quick response.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada was sending an investigation team, expected to arrive Saturday morning, TSB spokesman Julie Leroux confirmed.

Cold Lake is about 230 km northeast of Edmonton.

Conair is contracted by the provincial government to provide aerial wildfire suppression by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD).

As of Friday afternoon, there were 24 wildfires burning in Alberta. All were classified as being held or under control. Since April 1, Alberta has recorded 587 wildfires, which have burned more than 2,200 hectares of land.

— With files from Claire Theobald, Peter Lozinski and Postmedia Network

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

On Twitter: @SUNBryanPass

...