Twenty-five-year-old Alan Swartz and 23-year-old James Shelifoe Jr. died.
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He was among the 11 members of Michigan’s Beartown Firefighters of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community traveling in a caravan to a wildfire in Utah, according to the community’s Facebook page.
The truck Johnson was driving was carrying nine firefighters who were going to help fight the Box Canyon wildfire in Utah. The patrol says the truck left Interstate 35W for some unknown reason, struck the median cable barriers and rolled Saturday afternoon.
The Tribe released a statement Sunday, saying, “The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is devastated and our hearts go out to the families and those injured”. They were in a convoy but became separated from the truck that crashed.
Johnson was charged with two felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide.
“Those firefighters are understandably shaken and are getting much-needed support from local agencies”, the statement said. Johnson admitted to smoking marijuana and doing cocaine in the hours and days leading up to the violent crash. The witness reported then seeing the third vehicle swerve into the right lane about three times, then swerve again across the lane onto the right side of the road before the crash.
This Aug. 27, 2016, photo provided by Anoka County Jail via Star Tribune shows Michael Allen Johnson. It also indicates the firefighters were on the way to the Box Canyon Fire, which is burning on almost 4,000 acres in Utah.
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The two firefighters from MI killed on a Minnesota highway are being returned home to be laid to rest.
