TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A U.S. Army helicopter assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord was on a routine training mission when it crashed in Washington state not far from the base, Army officials said Thursday. There was no immediate word of how many people were aboard and their conditions.

The helicopter crashed at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, an Army official said in a statement. It sparked a small wildfire that had grown to 1 acre (0.4 hectares) by Thursday morning, the Washington Department of Natural Resources said.

This is “currently a search mission” involving the “most professional and skilled addressing the situation,” Army spokesperson Ruth Castro told The Associated Press in an email. They were fully cooperating with law enforcement, she said. No details were released about the helicopter

See Full Page