Three people were killed after two helicopters dispatched to help fight a fire in California collided on Sunday, sending one crashing to the ground.
Firefighters were responding to a blaze in the Southern California community of Cabazon when it was reported that the fire had extended into vegetation, requiring a “full wildland fire dispatch,” including fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, CalFire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher said in a news conference.
Firefighters with both CalFire and the Riverside County Fire Department were involved in the response, he said.
While engaged in the firefight, two helicopters responding to the incident collided, Fulcher said.
The first helicopter was able to land safely nearby, but the second crashed, killing all three people onboard, he said. The three killed were identified only as a CalFire division chief, a CalFire captain and a contracted pilot.
Fulcher said the crash also caused an additional four-acre fire, which firefighters were able to extinguish.
“This was a tragic loss for the community, the fire service committee and Cal Fire Riverside County Fire Department,” Fulcher said.
He said the cause of the collision was still under investigation, with the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the crash.
The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter, that it was in “close coordination” with CalFire after the helicopter crash.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
