Worry over tactics grows after firefighter deaths When a firefighting helicopter went down in Northern California last week, killing nine and injuring four, the mountain crash site was so remote that it could only be reached by air or a full day's hike. According to the U.S. Forest Service, fighting the stubborn wildfire in an area nowhere near homes or businesses was necessary because massive plumes of smoke were threatening the health of residents across the region. But in a summer when a staggering number of wildfires are costing millions to fight, not everyone agrees that sending firefighters to backcountry blazes that pose no obvious threat to lives or property is the right approach. "Sending them to put out a fire in the wilderness is both overkill and unnecessary," said Timothy Ingalsbee, a veteran firefighter and executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology. "Firefighters are being ordered to take significant risks of their lives, health and safety that are incommensurate with ... the benefits of suppression." Before the crash, most of the men who died had spent the day cutting fire lines in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, a protected area where under normal conditions federal law forbids all forms of mechanical transportation....