Stretch of 10 Freeway in Cabazon named for 2 Cal Fire firefighters and pilot killed in 2023 copter crash
A stretch of the 10 Freeway in the San Gorgonio Pass was dedicated Friday in honor of two firefighters and a pilot who died in 2023 when two helicopters collided while fighting a fire. The freeway segment will carry the names of Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, 46; Capt. Tim Rodriguez, 44; and their pilot in a spotting helicopter, Tony Sousa, 55.
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 37 names the stretch of the 10 between Cabazon and Malki Road, near where they died responding to the Broadway fire on Aug. 6, 2023, in their honor.
A bagpiper plays at Friday’s ceremony dedicating a stretch of the 10 Freeway in Cabazon in the names of three Cal Fire personnel who died fighting a 2023 fire in Cabazon. (Photo courtesy of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians).
A ceremony Friday honored Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, Capt. Tim Rodriguez and pilot Tony Sousa. Cal Fire personnel, and local, state and tribal leaders were on hand as a stretch of the 10 Freeway in Cabazon was dedicated in memory of the three men. They died in a 2023 collision of two helicopters while responding to a fire in Cabazon. Here, State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh hugs Dorothy Rodriguez, the widow of Rodriguez, as Assemblymember Greg Wallis (center) and Assemblymember Natasha Johnson (left) watch. (Photo courtesy of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians).
Assemblymember Greg Wallis addresses the families of Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, Capt. Tim Rodriguez and pilot Tony Sousa, along with Cal Fire personnel, and local, state and tribal leaders at a Friday ceremony dedicating a stretch of the 10 Freeway in Cabazon in memory of the three men. They died in a 2023 collision of two helicopters while responding to a fire in Cabazon. (Photo courtesy of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians).
Members of the Cal Fire Honor Guard march solemnly during the procession at the memorial service for Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Capt. Rodriguez tragically lost his life on Aug. 6 when the spotter helicopter he was aboard collided with another firefighting helicopter over a brush fire in Cabazon, leading to a fatal crash. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Two ladder trucks display the American Flag on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario as firefighters and guests arrive at the memorial service for Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez, 44, who died when the spotter helicopter he was riding in collided with another firefighting helicopter over a brush fire in Cabazon and crashed on Aug. 6. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A photo of Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez is displayed on a digital screen during the memorial service at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Mourners gather to pay their respects as they remember Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez, who tragically lost his life on Aug. 6 when the spotter helicopter he was aboard collided with another firefighting helicopter over a brush fire in Cabazon, leading to a fatal crash. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)”
Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Bischof and Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez died Aug. 6, 2023, in a helicopter crash while fighting a fire. (Courtesy photos)
Air Shasta Rotor & Wing pilot Tony Sousa was killed in the collision of two helicopters over the Broadway fire in Cabazon on Aug. 6, 2023. (GoFundMe)
Cal Fire officers carry the caskets of Assistant Chief Josh Bischof and Capt. Tim Rodriguez for their dedicated procession on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, at the Riverside County Coroner’s Office in Perris, Calif. The two Cal Fire firefighters died in a collision of two helicopters over a brush fire in Cabazon on Sunday. (Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP)
Family members, including his wife Dorothy at the center, along with their three children, mourn as the casket is lowered during the procession to the memorial service for Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez, 44, at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Capt. Rodriguez tragically lost his life on August 6 when the spotter helicopter he was aboard collided with another firefighting helicopter over a brush fire in Cabazon and subsequently crashed. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The flag-draped casket of Cal Fire Capt. Tim Rodriguez arrives on the back of a fire engine as hundreds of firefighters gather to pay their respects at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The honor guard at Friday’s ceremony dedicating a stretch of the 10 Freeway in Cabazon in the names of three Cal Fire personnel who died fighting a 2023 fire in Cabazon. (Photo courtesy of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians).
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A bagpiper plays at Friday’s ceremony dedicating a stretch of the 10 Freeway in Cabazon in the names of three Cal Fire personnel who died fighting a 2023 fire in Cabazon. (Photo courtesy of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians).
The Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, Captain Tim Rodriguez, and Pilot Tony Sousa Memorial Highway will serve as a lasting tribute to the three men.
“After the tragedy, I stood on the Assembly floor to ask my colleagues to adjourn in their memory. It simply wasn’t enough,” Assemblymember Greg Wallis of Bermuda Dunes, who attended Friday’s ceremony, said in a statement. “We needed something permanent, something on the ground in the communities they served. This highway is a small thing measured against what their families have lost, but it is lasting, and it is placed here in the heart of the community their loved ones served.”
State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Assemblymember Natasha Johnson and Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Chief Robert Fish joined Wallis at Friday’s dedication at Casino Morongo; along with public safety partners; and local, state and Morongo tribal leadership.
“This stretch of highway runs through the center of the 47th Assembly District, and it is a road I travel often from one end of the district to the other,” Wallis said. “Every time I pass these signs, I will think of them. Some drivers will know their story. Others will see their names for the first time and want to learn more. That is how memory works when you put a name on something permanent.”
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