President Biden offers condolences after firefighters, pilot killed in Cabazon helicopter crash

CABAZON, Calif. (KABC) -- President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden offered their condolences Tuesday to the families of the pilot and two firefighters who were killed in a midair helicopter collision in Riverside County.

"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," Biden said in a statement. "This tragedy is yet another example, of their incredible bravery."

As wildfires have intensified, more firefighters have put themselves in harm's way to defend families and communities, the statement added.

"We owe it to our firefighters and their families to do everything we can to prevent these dangerous fires in the first place," the statement said. "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, 46, Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez, 44, and contract pilot Tony Sousa, 55, were fatally injured in the collision and fire.

RELATED: 3 victims identified after firefighting helicopters collide midair in Riverside County

The three people killed after a midair collision involving two firefighting helicopters in Riverside County were identified Monday as investigators looked into the cause of the crash.

Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department resources had been dispatched to a structure fire near the intersection of Broadway Street and South Ronda Avenue in Cabazon shortly after 6 p.m.

The victims were aboard a Bell 407 that collided with a Sikorsky S-64E Skycrane making water drops over the "Broadway Fire," which was held to 20 acres on a barren hillside. The two occupants of the Sikorsky were not hurt and landed without incident.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Eleazar Nepomuceno held a news briefing in Cabazon Monday, saying a team consisting of two NTSB investigators, a Federal Aviation Administration representative and personnel from the helicopter manufacturers, Bell and Sikorsky, were gathering preliminary information on the midair collision.

"They were on a convergence flight, and they impacted,'' Nepomuceno said of the choppers. "Our plan is to document the wreckage before it is relocated to (a secure hangar) in Arizona."

The NTSB flew its drone above the crash site Tuesday.

A preliminary report on the crash is expected in a few weeks.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.