JOHN DAY, Ore. — A solemn procession rolled out of John Day on Tuesday to honor an air tanker pilot killed when his plane crashed while battling a Grant County wildfire.

Local residents watched respectfully from the sidewalks as law enforcement, firefighting and civilian vehicles drove slowly east on Highway 26, providing a symbolic escort as James Bailey Maxwell began his final journey.

Maxwell, 74, was flying a single-engine air tanker dropping flame retardant on a lightning-sparked blaze in the vicinity of the Falls Fire when his aircraft was reported missing shortly before 7 p.m. on July 25 near Seneca.

Also today,  Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek ordered flags at Oregon public institutions to be flown at half-staff between sunrise on Wednesday, July 31, to sunset on Thursday, Aug. 1.

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of Mr. Maxwell while he fought the Falls Fire,” Kotek said. “On behalf of Oregon, I want to extend my condolences to Mr. Maxwell’s family, loved ones, and fellow firefighters. … I would also like to thank the search and rescue team for their quick recovery efforts to bring Mr. Maxwell home.”

The governor’s office reported that Maxwell was an Idaho resident, but Federal Aviation Administration records list Maxwell as a Clarkston, Wash. resident.

Lisa Clark, an information officer with the Bureau of Land Management, which had hired Maxwell for firefighting duty, said the search for the downed plane and pilot began as soon as they realized it was missing.

“We immediately initiated a search for the aircraft … but were unable to locate the plane before dark,” Clark said.

At that point, she said, a National Guard helicopter equipped with infrared and night vision equipment was called in, but it, too, was unsuccessful in locating the downed aircraft.

On the morning of July 26, a search and rescue team from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office joined the hunt, with help from wildland firefighters and local resources, and was able to find the aircraft and recover the pilot’s body.

In a news release July 28, Malheur National Forest officials identified the pilot as Maxwell and described him as a veteran member of the wildland firefighting community.

“James was an experienced pilot who had spent 54 years of his life flying and who had logged approximately 24,000 hours of flight time,” officials said in the release. “He is survived by and will be missed by family members in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.”

After Maxwell’s body was recovered July 26, his remains were escorted to a John Day mortuary by an impromptu funeral procession.

Early that afternoon, a long line of official vehicles, some with their emergency lights flashing, was parked along Highway 395 in John Day across from the Driskill Memorial Chapel as firefighters and law enforcement personnel stood with their hats off in a show of respect for the downed pilot.

In a statement on X, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, called the pilot’s death “a tragic example of the risks that all firefighters take every day to keep Oregonians safe in our homes and communities,” adding: “My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the pilot who sacrificed his life battling this fire in Eastern Oregon.”

The single-seat air tanker, about the size of a cropduster, is of a type widely used in wildland firefighting, with a tank that can hold up to 800 gallons of fire retardant.

Its small size enables it to take off from and land on small, remote airstrips, allowing for shorter turnaround times when ferrying loads of retardant to wildfires, and it can get closer to the flames than larger aircraft.

“They can be really effective in sagebrush, open grass and anywhere the timber has a little opening,” Clark said.

The U.S. Forest Service and BLM are working with local law enforcement to determine the circumstances that led to the crash, and a Serious Accident Investigation Team will be called in to assist, according to a joint news release from the Forest Service and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

The Falls Fire broke out July 10 near the Falls Campground on the Malheur National Forest in northern Harney County. It has since grown to more than 142,000 acres and has spread into southern Grant County.

As of July 30, 769 personnel from multiple agencies were battling the blaze, which was 69% contained.

The Telephone Fire, burning a few miles to the east, has now grown to 27,000 acres. Several smaller fires also are burning in the area.

The Falls Fire is believed to have been human-caused. Forest Service investigators are asking for the public’s assistance in the matter. Information that could aid the investigation can be submitted to SM.FS.R6TipHotLine@usda.gov.