Keaton Snow and Jay Bunning were returning to the Bend Airport at 12:30 a.m. Thursday after a three-hour night flight in a helicopter.

Snow, a 19-year-old student at Leading Edge Aviation Academy and a Bend resident, looked into the distance and saw a hazy glow. Among the pockets of light, Snow noticed a pulsing light in the distance and mentioned it to Bunning, his instructor.

“I worked a lot as a wildland firefighter,” Snow said. He was flying for the first time at night, part of his pilot qualification. “I remember what the glow of the fire looked like through smoke, and the light reminded me of that.”

Snow flew to the area and saw the fire burning near homes. He circled the area, manipulating the controls to emphasize the sounds of the rotors, in order to awaken those below.

Bunning, in the co-pilot’s seat, on a cellphone called Deschutes County emergency dispatch to report the fire.

The houses, located near Elkhorn Estates south of the Old Mill District, lay on the opposite side of the ridge from the fire. The pilots realized people living in the homes would not be able to see the fire until it was already on their property.

“We were really worried that the fire would burn straight into the houses,” he said. “The fire was moving so fast.”

Luckily, the helicopter noise woke residents up. Gary Judd, airport manager, received a phone message this morning from a resident in the area, Patrick Douglas, thanking the airport and helicopter crew.

“Whenever I get a call about our aircrafts flying in the area, it’s usually a complaint,” Judd said. “Today, it was a nice change of pace.”

Douglas, in the message, said he was thankful to the pilot who saved the day.

“It was fantastic,” Bunning said. “We didn’t expect to hear about a message from someone coming to thank us.”

Bunning hopes to become a helicopter firefighter; Snow aspires to work in emergency medical services.

The fire was put out, but rekindled around 8 a.m., said Bend Fire Department Deputy Fire Marshal Susie Maniscalco. The fire was contained and put out by Thursday afternoon, and no structures were damaged, she said. Bend Fire Department and Bend Police are investigating the cause.

Jessica Parker, assistant director of admissions for Leading Edge Aviation Academy, said the pilot program includes scenario-based training.

“In the middle of a training session, they were able to be thrown into a situation where they needed to use what they learned,” she said. “They really acted heroically.”

Bunning said he lives near the area of the fire and couldn’t imagine being on the ground, not knowing a fire was growing over the ridge. As an instructor, he was happy to see his student’s reaction to a unique problem.

“I was very proud of how Keaton handled the situation,” he said. “I had no problems about him moving over to the area. It went very well.”

Snow said he started taking helicopter lessons at age 13. He is at the end of his current certification, but still has approximately nine months to go until he is fully certified to work as a helicopter EMS pilot.