Khushi Vats, Pune
A firefighting mission killed three people in the state of California, US, on Sunday. Two firefighting helicopters were dispatched to fight a fire in California but rammed into each other during the flight. One crashed to the ground, killing the CalFire division chief, a contracted pilot, and a fire captain.
The firefighting team was responding to the fire in the Southern California community of Cabazon. It was reported that the fire spread to the vegetation in the region, 137 kilometers east of Los Angeles. “A full wildland fire dispatch was required, including rotary aircraft and fixed-wing aircraft,”, David Fulcher, CalFire Southern Region Chief, said in a news conference.
CalFire and the Riverside County Fire Department reported about the event on X, formerly called Twitter. “The Cabazon fire was spread across about 3 acres, and firefighters responded around 6 p.m. By shortly after 7 p.m., the forward rate of spread had stopped”, the agencies tweeted. The crash happened at 7.05 p.m.
Fulcher also added that the fire caused by the collision of the planes also resulted in a fire spreading across four acres, which was extinguished by the fire department later.
“Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed, and tragically, all three members perished, which included one Cal Fire Division chief, one Cal Fire Captain, and one contract client pilot,” David Fulcher said.
“This was a tragic loss for the community, the fire service committee, and Cal Fire Riverside County Fire Department,” He added.
An ABC local radio station reported that the helicopter that landed safely was a Sikorsky Skycrane, while the helicopter that crashed was a Bell helicopter. The latter was used to observe and fight fires in the impacted areas. The National Transportation Safety Board has also called for a probe into the Cabazon accident.