Officials reported late Sunday night that 3 persons had died after 2 helicopters crashed while battling a fire in Cabazon, Southern California.
“The initial chopper made it to a neighboring safe landing. Sadly, the 2nd helicopter crashed, killing all three crew members horribly, according to CalFire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher.
According to Fulcher, the victims were a hired pilot, a division commander for CalFire, and a captain for CalFire.
The Broadway Fire, which started on Sunday after the building fire extended to neighboring vegetation, was being fought by 6 aircraft, including helicopters.
As per a tweet from a joint CalFire and Riverside County Fire Department Twitter account, the Broadway Fire was approximately 3 acres in size when firefighters arrived at the scene at about six o’clock. The “forward rate of spread” was stopped just after 7 o’clock, according to the organizations.