Utahn killed while fighting Dome Fire in central California

PARK CITY — The Dome Fire in Yosemite National Park has been burning for six days and has consumed more than 3,660 acres. Wildland firefighters are battling it in extremely rugged terrain.

Ryan Cutter, 46, of Park City, was one of the two helicopter pilots killed Sunday while those efforts continued. He was well known in Utah's helicopter community, and colleagues and friends of Cutter are heartbroken and said he was always the one to offer help and support.

As a helicopter pilot, Cutter's courage and determination took him throughout the Western United States battling wildfires.

He was born in New Hampshire, where he was a high school ski-jump champion. He came to Utah to work at the Olympic Park and to ski.

He was an adrenaline adventurer who said his feet were never meant to be on the ground. Parachuting, wingsuit flying, backcountry skiing — the greater the challenge, the more Cutter wanted to do it.

In 2021, a wildfire raced through Parley's Canyon. Cutter and his wife, Nina, were evacuated. He talked with KSL and explained the fire's behavior.

"The lead plane, so, he comes in and finds smoke. And that tanker just drops where he told him to … kind of familiar with this. It's kind of awkward to be on the ground instead of getting called in and being on the other end of things," Cutter told KSL. He had just returned from fighting a fire in California at the time.

As a helicopter pilot, Cutter wanted to save lives, protect property and preserve forests.

He and his co-pilot lost their lives Sunday afternoon when their chopper crashed in mountainous terrain while battling the Dome Fire. The wildland fire community at Yosemite stood at attention as the bodies of Cutter and his co-pilot were brought from the wreckage and out of the park.

"This is some extremely rugged, steep, mountainous terrain that we are working in, which is making it extremely challenging for our firefighters to get to," Benjamin Cossel, of the California Complex Incident Management Team, said. "This is our family, so we've lost family members. The wildland fire service, we're a family. And this is our chance to say goodbye."

Utah was home to Cutter, where he met his beloved wife, Nina. The two were rarely without their dogs.

His colleagues say they will always hold Cutter in high regard. One of them said he was the best among them — Cutter was passionate about life; when you became his friend, you became family.

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