On July 27th, McCall Smokejumper, Luke Befumo lost his life in a tragic accident on Payette Lake. Luke’s passing leaves an irreplaceable absence amongst his family, friends, the McCall smokejumper community, and the Wildland firefighting community as a whole.

Luke has been a wildland firefighter for 8 years, serving on the Santiam River Handcrew for the Willamette National Forest before he rookied with Grangeville Smokejumpers in 2024, later working in McCall for the 2025 and 2026 fire seasons.

At McCall, he was “the best of us”, excelling in every aspect of the smokejumper profession. On the fireline, Luke was a professional, competent, and made the morale of his coworkers an upmost priority.

We knew Luke as the best of friends and no better bro that you could think of. He was a ripping snowboarder, mountain biker, snowmobiler. He always had a smile on his face, and was never too busy to listen what you had to say, or to help you with a project. He was extremely caring, kind, and if he didn’t know how to fix something, he’d figure it out.

The McCall smokejumper base has made this gofundme me to assist his family with the cost of travel, funeral arrangements, and getting the assistance they need during this difficult time.

Thank you for your contributions,

The McCall Smokejumpers