Volunteer Firefighter pilot Gert Marais of Fort Benton, Montana, was using his single-engine plane to drop retardant on a wildfire when his plane went down. Marais was called in to help battle the Colorado Wildfires at the time of the crash. Volunteer Firefighters Terry DeVore and John Schwartz were also killed earlier in the day in another area while battling the fire. Marais went by the nickname "Jerry" and was a veteran firefighting pilot.
Marais and his wife, Esme, have three sons and a daughter. The oldest son graduated from Fort Benton High School two years ago, and the next oldest is a senior this year and plans to go into the military. The daughter is in sixth grade, and the youngest boy hasn't started school.
Marais was a native South African who had lived all over the world before settling in Montana in 2001. He moved to Colorado last fall to work for a company in Sterling that supplies aerial firefighting services to government agencies. He was a family man, a talented aircraft mechanic and an avid bow hunter.
The cause of the accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
(bio by: Steve Edquist)
Marais and his wife, Esme, have three sons and a daughter. The oldest son graduated from Fort Benton High School two years ago, and the next oldest is a senior this year and plans to go into the military. The daughter is in sixth grade, and the youngest boy hasn't started school.
Marais was a native South African who had lived all over the world before settling in Montana in 2001. He moved to Colorado last fall to work for a company in Sterling that supplies aerial firefighting services to government agencies. He was a family man, a talented aircraft mechanic and an avid bow hunter.
The cause of the accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
(bio by: Steve Edquist)
Volunteer Firefighter pilot Gert Marais of Fort Benton, Montana, was using his single-engine plane to drop retardant on a wildfire when his plane went down. Marais was called in to help battle the Colorado Wildfires at the time of the crash. Volunteer Firefighters Terry DeVore and John Schwartz were also killed earlier in the day in another area while battling the fire. Marais went by the nickname "Jerry" and was a veteran firefighting pilot.
Marais and his wife, Esme, have three sons and a daughter. The oldest son graduated from Fort Benton High School two years ago, and the next oldest is a senior this year and plans to go into the military. The daughter is in sixth grade, and the youngest boy hasn't started school.
Marais was a native South African who had lived all over the world before settling in Montana in 2001. He moved to Colorado last fall to work for a company in Sterling that supplies aerial firefighting services to government agencies. He was a family man, a talented aircraft mechanic and an avid bow hunter.
The cause of the accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
(bio by: Steve Edquist)
Marais and his wife, Esme, have three sons and a daughter. The oldest son graduated from Fort Benton High School two years ago, and the next oldest is a senior this year and plans to go into the military. The daughter is in sixth grade, and the youngest boy hasn't started school.
Marais was a native South African who had lived all over the world before settling in Montana in 2001. He moved to Colorado last fall to work for a company in Sterling that supplies aerial firefighting services to government agencies. He was a family man, a talented aircraft mechanic and an avid bow hunter.
The cause of the accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
(bio by: Steve Edquist)
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