Community Corner

UPDATE: Fire From Fatal Helicopter Crash on Pendleton Now 120 Acres

Two people have died in a Marine helicopter crash on Camp Pendleton, and smoke from an ensuing brush fire is drifting to the Murrieta-Temecula Valley.

UPDATE 1:20 p.m. Sept. 20: Two United States Marine Corps pilots killed in a helicopter crash at Camp Pendleton were identified Tuesday.

UPDATE 6:40 p.m. Sept. 19:

Base officials reported the fire--sparked when an AH-1W Cobra went down, killing two--was approximately 80 percent contained Monday evening after it spread from roughly two acres to 120 acres. The fire does not possess the threat of base evacuation at this time, officials said.

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"Residents in Southwest Riverside County may experience heavy smoke through the evening," said Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department Spokesperson Jody Hagemann.

There are currently three type-3 strike teams, two type-1 strike teams, 12 hand crews and three helicopters on site, officials said. Personnel will remain on site to eliminate the remaining elements of the fire.

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Camp Pendleton firefighters, along with other units from Cal Fire, the U.S. Forest Service and the Fallbrook Fire Department, were on scene to contain a fire caused by the crash, according to officials.

The crash that killed two Marine pilots and sparked the fire is under investigation.

UPDATE 5:40 p.m. Sept. 19:

A fire sparked by a fatal helicopter crash has grown from roughly two acres to more than 80 acres by Monday evening, officials said.

Firefighters are using four air tankers, four helicopter tankers, three type-3 strike teams, four hand crews and one forward air control aircraft, officials said.

The fire is burning in the southeast portion of the base near the border with De Luz and is moving northeast, sending thick smoke into the Murrieta-Temecula Valley.

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Thick smoke was drifting into Murrieta Monday from a fire resulting from a helicopter crash on Camp Pendleton in which base officials say two Marines have died.

The AH-1W Cobra went down at approximately 1 p.m. in the De Luz Drop Zone in the southeast corner of Camp Pendleton near Fallbrook, according to base officials.

Fire crews are on scene containing a two-acre brush fire caused by the crash, according to base officials.

There are no reports of further injuries or structural damage on the ground, according to First Lt. Maureen Dooley of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The crew members aboard the helicopter from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were pronounced dead on scene by emergency responders, officials said.

The crash is under investigation and the names of those killed are being withheld pending notification of next of kin, Dooley said.

The incident is under investigation.

Maggie Avants and Toni McAllister contributed to this report.


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