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Authorities in Lacey Township have confirmed the pilot of the private plane in Saturday's, Sept. 2 crash died, and alluded to the fact that the crash sparked a wildfire that had consumed more than 830 acres as of Labor Day.
Lacey Township officers and local firefighters responded to reports of a smoke condition off of Dover Road and West Lacey Road, near Robert J. Miller Airpark shortly before midnight on Saturday.
As authorities probed the smoke condition, they eventually found the small plane that had crashed near the fire. Responders couldn't access the site of the crash until Sunday afternoon, Sept. 3, and confirmed the fatality.
Meanwhile, the fire in the wooded area around Miller Airpark continued to spread, but had been 70 percent contained as of Monday afternoon, Sept. 4.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were immediately notified, and are currently investigating the crash. Any inquiries related to the status of the airplane crash investigation should be made directly to the FAA Eastern Region Public Affairs Office.
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