14 DAY TRIAL // A smokejumper based in Boise, Idaho has fallen to his death on Friday, September 27, when his parachute did not open.
A smokejumper is a member of the fire department team that assists in putting out wildfires by parachuting into areas which cannot be reached by ground. They usually put out fires in remote, woody, mountainous regions.
Officials have identified the victim as 40-year-old Mark T. Urban. Urban was born in East Longmeadow and has lived in Idaho, where he has taken part in fire-containing efforts.
He was part of a team of 75 smokejumpers employed at the Great Basin Smokejumper Base in Boise.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise put out a statement, describing that Urban, working for The Bureau of Land Management, perished during a parachuting training accident.
According to ABC affiliate WGGB, 40-year-old Urban experienced technical issues in deploying the chute. When it failed to open, he crash landed to his death in an area located approximately 45 miles east of Boise.
He had jumped out of a helicopter and the crew alerted authorities immediately after the jump. The nature of the training exercise he was performing has not been disclosed at this point. Urban was an experienced jumper, with several years of training in skydiving.
Bureau of Land Management spokesman Ken Frederick tells Heroes Memorial that he has been pronounced dead at the scene. A team of paramedics was airlifted to the scene to examine the body.
“Mark was my nephew and a remarakable guy. What I admired most about him were the choices he made about how to live his life. He died doing a job which gave him an extra level of accomplishment and pride,” the smokejumper's uncle, Frederic Urban, has expressed.