Helicopter crashes in Alberta during firefighting operation: TSB

The Transportation Safety Board says a helicopter involved in firefighting operations has crashed in northwestern Alberta.

A helicopter involved in firefighting operations has crashed in northwestern Alberta, the Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

Spokesman Chris Krepski said two board investigators are en route to the scene near Peace River, Alta.

"They will be on site later today to begin gathering information and assessing the occurance," he said.

Krepski said an emergency locator transmitter signal was received on Wednesday at around 6 p.m. He said the downed aircraft is currently in a marshy area near Haig Lake, roughly 140 kilometres northeast of Peace River.

Krepski said it was operated by Valhalla Helicopters, based in West Kelowna, B.C., which declined to comment.

Krepski said there was one person on board. RCMP were not immediately available to confirm the person's condition.

As of Thursday morning, Alberta had 117 active wildfires, 17 of which were considered out of control.