By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- • A CAL FIRE engine operating with emergency lights and siren activated collided with a civilian vehicle at approximately 12:30 p.m. on June 6, 2026, at the intersection of State Street and Gibbel Road in Hemet, California, killing two occupants of the civilian vehicle and injuring three firefighters.
- • The driver of the civilian vehicle, a 43-year-old male from San Jacinto, was pronounced dead at the scene; a 10-year-old boy in the front passenger seat died from his injuries at Inland Valley Medical Center.
- • A third occupant — a young passenger in the rear seat — was transported to a hospital for precautionary evaluation; all occupants were believed to be wearing seatbelts.
- • The three injured CAL FIRE firefighters were transported to Inland Valley Hospital for evaluation and were subsequently released.
- • The engine was part of a CAL FIRE strike team from the Tulare Unit in Visalia responding to the Cranston Fire in the Valle Vista community of Riverside County; investigators do not believe alcohol or drugs were factors in the collision, and the crash remains under investigation.
HEMET, Calif. — Two people were killed and three CAL FIRE firefighters were injured on June 6, 2026, when a civilian passenger vehicle collided with a CAL FIRE engine that was responding under emergency conditions to a wildfire in Riverside County, according to the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The collision occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. at the intersection of State Street and Gibbel Road in Hemet. The CAL FIRE engine was traveling northbound on State Street with its emergency lights and siren activated when a civilian Mini Cooper traveling westbound on Gibbel Road entered the intersection and the two vehicles collided.
The driver of the Mini Cooper, a 43-year-old male from San Jacinto whose identity had not been publicly released as of the time of publication, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 10-year-old boy in the front passenger seat was transported to Inland Valley Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. A third occupant — described as a young passenger seated in the rear of the vehicle — was transported to a hospital for a precautionary evaluation. All three civilian occupants were believed to have been wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, the CHP stated. Their identities were not released.
The engine’s driver and two additional firefighters were transported to Inland Valley Hospital for evaluation following the crash. All three were subsequently released. The CAL FIRE engine was part of a strike team dispatched from the agency’s Tulare Unit in Visalia to assist with multiple active fires in Southern California. At the time of the collision, the crew was en route to the Cranston Fire, a 2-acre wildfire burning in the Valle Vista community of Riverside County that was later contained.
The California Highway Patrol said investigators do not believe alcohol or drugs contributed to the collision. The crash remains under active investigation, and no further details regarding cause or contributing factors had been released as of the time of publication.