The helicopter pilot who died helping fight the Port Hills fire near Christchurch yesterday was an ex-SAS serviceman injured in battle.
David Steven Askin (38) - or Steve to his mates - along with at least three other SAS members, engaged in a five-hour firefight against the Taliban in Afganistan, Fairfax reports.
Wayne Mapp, the Defence Minister at the time, said the Kiwi soldiers were called in to help the Afghan Police when the Taliban stormed the InterContinental Hotel in Kabul in 2011.
Ten people died in the confrontation and Mr Askin was reportedly hurt.
A press photo of four SAS serviceman taken outside the InterContinental as they left the battle, showed one man, believed to be Mr Askin, with his helmet off and a cut down the right side of his face.
Since returning to New Zealand and retiring from the armed forces Mr Askin worked as a pilot at Christchurch-based Way To Go Heliservices.
He was dumping monsoon buckets on the flames of an inferno which had engulfed 600ha of land near Christchurch when the Way To Go Heliservices chopper he was in went down. He died at the scene.
His employer declined to comment this morning, saying it would release a statement about midday.
Way To Go Heliservices' website described Mr Askin as an enthusiastic, highly experienced pilot who "brings a background of discipline and professionalism to all tasks that he undertakes".
He was passionate about the outdoors and always made sure clients had an experience to remember, the website said.
Scores of Askin's friends who appeared to have served in the army with him have shared a New Zealand Herald cartoon of a fallen soldier on Facebook in tribute to their fallen mate.
The cartoon, by Rod Emmerson, depicts a Kiwi soldier with his head bowed in front of a white cross. The image is captioned: "He who dares nothing need hope for nothing but he who dares wins".
The New Zealand Herald originally published the cartoon in September 2011 to pay homage to a Kiwi soldier killed in action in Afghanistan.
Police said investigations by police and the Civil Aviation Authority into the circumstances surrounding the crash that killed Mr Askin were ongoing.
