Mid-air collision on SoCal fire kills three

A Cal Fire observation helicopter crashed east of Los Angeles on Sunday evening after a midair collision with another firefighting helicopter, killing three crew members aboard. The Bell 407 collided with a Sikorsky S-64E, which was also working the fire, and the crash killed the two Cal Fire employees and their contract pilot on board the Bell. The Siller heavy helicopter experienced a hard landing but its crew of two parked the aircraft and walked away.

Those lost in the crash were a Cal Fire division chief, a Cal Fire captain, and a contract pilot. The Press-Enterprise reported that Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher and other fire personnel at a midnight news conference wore black tape over their badges.

UPDATE: CALFIRE says Assistant Chief Josh Bischof and Fire Captain Tim Rodriguez were killed in the crash, along with the Bell helicopter contract pilot Tony Sousa.

After the crash, emergency personnel were dispatched to the site near the unincorporated community of Cabazon around 7:20 p.m., according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The crash occurred south of the 10 Freeway east of Banning, California, on tribal land south of the Morongo Casino.

A CBS News report said the Bell 407 (a derivative of a LongRanger) was flying in an observer-coordinator role when it collided with the Sikorsky Skycrane while battling the brush fire. Fixed-wing aircraft were also fighting the fire, with a total of six aircraft on the fire Sunday evening an hour or two before sunset. “This area has a lot of the light, flashy fuels that are becoming very prevalent with this fire season,” said Cal Fire Public Information Officer Rob Roseen. “Where we have a lot of these annual grasses and brush, they’re getting five, six feet tall.”

The fire, which reportedly started in a structure about 6 p.m., had spread to nearby brush, Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher in a news conference, and had grown to about 20 acres. He said that Riverside County Fire Chief Bill Weiser had met with two family members. “We just want to let them know that we are there for them,” he added.

Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire crews were working on the fire near Broadway and Esperanza avenues; skies were mostly clear early Sunday evening, with winds ranging from 9 to 14 mph and gusts of 17 to 25 mph.

Our heartfelt condolences to families and friends of those lost, and also to the crew aboard the Sikorsky.

Oregon firefighter killed Friday

A 21-year-old federal firefighter was killed in an on-duty vehicle accident on Friday, August 4, near Powers, Oregon. Benjamin Sapper from Boulder, Colorado was a handcrew member on the Gold Beach Ranger District of the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest in southwest Oregon.

“This is a devastating loss of one of our own Gold Beach firefighters,” District Ranger Kailey Guerrant told KATU-TV. “We have a tight-knit community on the Gold Beach and Powers Ranger Districts, and we stand together in grief and support for his family, friends, and fellow firefighters during this heartbreaking time.”

Benjamin Sapper
Benjamin Sapper photo courtesy USFS

Benjamin graduated from Boulder High School and the University of Colorado with a degree in Applied Mathematics.

KDRV-TV reported that Sapper was on duty and traveling with his crew when their rig was involved in a vehicle crash. Coquille Fire & Rescue said the vehicle left the roadway above the community of Powers.

Sapper was an avid baseball player, chess player, and skier who planned to attend grad school in earth sciences this fall at the University of British Columbia.

Our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to his co-workers on the Gold Beach crew.

Virginia deputy chief dies of heart attack after wildfire response

Chief Lauck
Chief Chester Lauck

A Virginia firefighter, Deputy Chief Chester T. Lauck with Frederick County Fire and Rescue, suffered a heart attack hours after responding to a wildfire and died the following morning.

The notice from the Frederick County Government Facebook page on Sunday announced “On behalf of Fire and Rescue Chief Steven A. Majchrzak, it is with profound sadness that we announce the Line-Of-Duty Death of Deputy Chief Chester T. Lauck, who passed away this morning at 8:09 a.m. at Winchester Medical Center surrounded by family and friends.”

Lauck LODD

In his most recent position, Lauck was responsible for the Emergency Management Division. Prior to that he had worked for the Winchester (Virginia) Fire and Rescue Department and had retired He retired from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Fire and Rescue Department as a Battalion Chief of the Special Operations Division. He’d also worked as an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighter (ARFF) for the Air National Guard and began service in 1984 as a patrolman for the Virginia Department of Forestry, where he worked on wildland incidents and events.

West Virginia firefighter killed by falling tree

A West Virginia Department of Forestry employee, Cody J. Mullens, 28, was killed by a falling tree while fighting a wildfire on April 13 near Montgomery, West Virginia.

The firefighter’s death was announced by West Virginia governor Jim Justice, who said he and his wife were “heartbroken by the tragic news of losing one of our own. Our state foresters are some of the most dedicated workers in our state, putting their lives on the line to protect our communities from wildfires, and we owe them all, especially Cody, an enormous debt of gratitude.”

Mullens was from Mt. Hope, Fayette County. West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported that he was part of a response unit working a brush fire along Route 61 in Armstrong Creek, around 30 miles southeast of Charleston.

West Virginia has statewide burn restrictions in effect and is midway through their typical wildfire season.

Firefighter killed while fighting fire in southwest Virginia

Rocky S. Wood died while fighting a wildfire in Buchanan County in southwest Virginia on March 9, 2023.

Wood, an employee with the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF), died at approximately 8:30 p.m. while working on a 15-acre wildfire near the Roseann community along Lester’s Fork Road. Prior to becoming a full-time forestry technician with VDOF in 2016, he had worked as a part-time wildland firefighter with the agency and for the Virginia Department of Corrections. An investigation is underway, according to a statement from VDOF.

“Today our hearts are broken as we send our sincere condolences to Rocky’s family, friends and fellow colleagues during this difficult time,” said State Forester Rob Farrell.

A Facebook post from the Town of Haysi, Virginia, where Wood was vice mayor and chief of the Haysi Volunteer Fire Department, also shared condolences. “We will strive to honor his memory and service,” the post reads, “though it’s hard to find the right words at this time. Please keep his family in your prayers as they navigate their grief.”

Firefighting helicopter crashes in Turkey killing two

The Interior Ministry of Turkey reported that two people were killed and five were injured when a firefighting helicopter crashed as it was en route to the Turkish port of Marmaris.

Personnel on the helicopter included two Russians and five Turkish citizens but the ministry did not give the nationalities of the deceased.

An official at the General Directorate of Forestry told journalists the helicopter had flown in from the northern province of Kastamonu to join others at Marmaris, a resort town on the Aegean Sea.

No cause was given for the crash which occurred in a field in the Çardak district, Denizli province.

The helicopter may have intended to assist with a large wind-driven fire in the Yalancıboğaz area of Marmaris. On Wednesday aircraft working on the blaze included 15 helicopters and 8 fixed wing aircraft assisting 500 firefighters on the ground. The fire is near a naval base which prompted the response of military personnel and equipment to assist in suppression.

Aviation Safety Network reports the helicopter was a Kamov Ka-32 operated by Avialift. It had departed from Kastamonu en route to Marmaris. Helicopter crash, Turkey, Sept 21, 2022

 

We send out our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers of the deceased and injured.