The California Highway Patrol said the Ventura County Fire water tender hit a curb and overturned around 6:30 Wednesday morning on Highway 246 at Purisima Road, just east of Lompoc.
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Fire engineer Ryan Osler, 38, and 18-year-veteran of the fire department and the passenger in the truck has been identified as the fire fighter who was killed in the crash. Osler’s body was being transported with an escort on the highway below.
A Santa Barbara County Fire Department vehicle enters the Vandenberg Air Force Base Main Gate to respond to a new fire on Thursday afternoon.
Crews increased containment while halting the growth of a wildfire burning in rugged land at a central California military base, authorities said Thursday. The blaze has expanded to the south as it grew to more than 16 square miles.
A California Highway Patrol investigator looks at the wreck of a water tender fire truck involved in a rollover crash near Vandenberg Air Force base that took the life of a Ventura County Fire Dept. firefighter and injured another firefighter Wednesday morning, September 21, 2016, near Lompoc, Calif. There were no other occupants.
The new fire broke out at 2 p.m. Wednesday on the north side of the coastal, mostly undeveloped Vandenberg Air Force Base is unrelated to the older, larger fire that’s on the south side, base officials said. He was married with two children. “This tragedy reminds us of the dangers firefighters face every day”.
The firefighters were among more than 1,000 personnel assigned to the blaze. Voluntary evacuation orders were in place for about 400 residents of the San Miguelito Canyon area just off the base near the small city of Lompoc.
Base officials are handling the fire response but did ask to use Santa Barbara County Air Support Unit Copter 3 for the fire, Capt. Dave Zaniboni said.
It is unclear what caused the crash, though there may have been fog in the area at the time.
Vandenberg encompasses almost 156 square miles (405 square kilometres) along the Pacific Ocean.
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Base officials said Thursday that the Canyon Fire is 70-percent contained and crews expect to make good progress despite the strong winds in the area.
