According to the reports, Company officials confirmed Sunday the pilot and co-pilot of a water bomber fighting wildfires in western Canada died in a weekend crash.

The 58-year-old pilot had been with the company for more than 26 years and the co-pilot also was "a very experienced pilot," though he was new to Conair, said Rick Pederson, senior vice president of Conair in Abbotsford.

It was further reported that it had yet to be determined why the Convair 580 went down about 10 miles south of Lytton, British Columbia, shortly before 9 p. m. on Saturday.

Pederson told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. I that Conair hadn't had a fatal accident in nearly 20 years.

According to the CBC, the effort to stamp out blazing wildfires in the province continued Sunday with the provincial Ministry of Forests and Range saying another 230 firefighters joining 1,000 already working front lines. British Columbia officials also have obtained 14 more aircraft to supplement the aerial attack on the flames.

There were 353 active wildfires, 150 of which were ignited in just the past three days. Since April 1, there have been 1,100 wildfires that have burned a total of nearly 60,000 hectares. Nearly 500 of them were human-caused, the CBC further added.

The fire danger will continue for most of British Columbia, with forecasters predicting hot, dry weather this week.

The CBC also has reported that evacuation orders were in place for several areas and a campfire ban extends across about 70 percent of the province. (With Inputs from Agencies)