A pilot who was recently killed in a helicopter crash while battling one of the california-known fires in California on Thursday.
Michael John Fournier, 52, died Wednesday morning when the flying Bell UH-1H helicopter crashed into a solo firefighting project near Coalinga, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
The plane, which had been hired through an outdoor company, threw water over the Hills chimney at the time of the fatal incident, the government said. Fournier is the only user on board.
Fournier’s painting was discovered at night after a bountiful effort through a search-and-rescue team, who had to maneuver through the smoke and mountainous terrain, either by jeep or on foot to succeed at the turn site of fate.
An American flag was placed on Fournier when he was brought back, according to one from the sheriff’s office, because he was “on the front line to help in an emergency,” and rescuers “felt it was the right thing to do.”
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Fournier is survived by his wife and two daughters, according to a GoFundMe crusade created for his family.
The La Verne Fire Association, Local 3624, called the twist of fate “tragic” in a Facebook post, and said Fournier was “close friends” with many chimney branch workers.
“We will miss him deeply,” the message said.
Fournier’s death comes in a week in which California has been hit by record heat waves, large power outages and piles of wildfires, many of which have erupted due to lightning.
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Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes California this week and helped trigger a total of 367 fires in the state, Cal Fire spokesman Jeremy Rahn said at a press conference, according to CNN.
Rahn noted that 26 of those fires are important, while two of the largest wildfires, the LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex, are burning lately in 10 counties in Northern California.
On Thursday, the LNU Lightning burned a total of 124,100 acres in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo, and Solanoat counties with 0 percent contention.
Fires at the SCU Lightning Complex, which are burning in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, burned on 137,475 acres with 5% containment, according to CalFire.
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In reaction to disasters, Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday issued a state emergency “to ensure the availability of significant resources to fight fires that burn across the state.”
“We are deploying all the resources needed to achieve some network protection while California is fighting fires across the state in those excessive conditions,” Newsom said in a statement. “California and its federal and local partners are working together to meet the challenge and remain alert to an ever-dangerous climate.”
Newsom has already won Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fight fires in Napa, Nevada and Monterey County, and also signed an emergency proclamation and decree to address the effects of the current situation. . heat wave, according to the press release.