President Biden offers condolences over loss of firefighters killed in Cabazon helicopter crash

President Joe Biden released a statement offering his condolences to the families of the two firefighters and pilot killed in a helicopter crash while battling a fire in Cabazon over the weekend.

"Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of the helicopter pilot, and the brave California firefighters, who tragically lost their lives Sunday. Every day, firefighters run toward danger, while everyone else runs the other way, because being a firefighter is not what they do — it’s who they are. This tragedy is yet another example, of their incredible bravery. As wildfires have intensified in recent years, more and more firefighters have put themselves in harm’s way to defend our families and communities from out-of-control fires. That’s why my administration has invested historic funding to address the underlying causes of wildfires — like record droughts caused by climate change. We owe it to our firefighters and their families to do everything we can to prevent these dangerous fires in the first place. Three families of three brave Americans have an empty seat around the dinner table tonight, and our hearts go out to them."

Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, Fire Captain Tim Rodriguez, and contracted pilot Tony Sousa were killed after a mid-air collision between two helicopters Sunday evening in Cabazon.

Fire officials said Chief Bishof had been on the force for 24 years, and Rodriguez for 19 years.

"We have lost 3 great individuals, 3 fathers, 3 husbands, 3 friends," said Cal Fire Southern Region Chief Dave Fulcher.

“I worked with Chief Bischof many times. He was very approachable, always wanted to mentor people just overall going up to him with a smile on his face,” said CAL FIRE Captain Richard Cordova. “The same thing with Captain Rodriguez. He was an up-and-comer with an air program, very devoted to the program.”

Multiple local, state, and national leaders expressed their condolences on Monday, including First Lady Jill Biden, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Congressmen Ken Calvert and Raul Ruiz.

The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration are taking over the investigation of the collision. The NTSB said their drone teams will be on scene to survey the wreckage on Tuesday.

"Once the wreckage has been recovered, our team will gather archived information, which will include the pilot, the machine and the environment. We will look at the pilots their certificates and ratings held the recency and any flight training history will examine the airframe, the engine and others components as necessary, which may include a follow up examination at a later date, which will also include a review of the maintenance history," said Eleazar Nepomuceno, Aviation Accident Investigator with the NTSB.

The NTSB said a preliminary report is expected to be released in at least 15 business days. A full report would take somewhere between 18-to-24 months.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.

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