Skydivers plummet onto Elsinore roof after mid-air collision

LAKE ELSINORE — Two skydivers were hospitalized after a mid-air collision sent the pair plummeting onto the roof of a Lake Elsinore building yesterday afternoon, Saturday, Feb. 16. Yesterday’s accident happened in an industrial business complex in the 20000 block of Cereal St., which runs adjacent to Skylark Field Airport where Skydive Elsinore operates.

One area resident who witnessed the collision and subsequent free-fall was the very first person to reach the victims. He later described the “intense” rescue and said the tremendous impact from the injured pair left a hole in the business’s roof.

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Nearly two dozen Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters from five engine companies and a truck company responded to the scene around 3:30 p.m., after receiving reports of the accident.

Fire officials later updated that the two victims had been brought down from the building’s roof and transported to an area hospital. Their injuries were described as moderate and minor.

Within minutes of the crash landing, area residents began to post what they had witnessed on social media, with several saying they witnessed what they described as a “mid-air collision.” One area resident, Kevin Lee, later reported on social media that he was with his children when they witnessed “two skydivers collide” and plummet to the building rooftop below.

Lake Elsinore residents, Nate Martinez and Brittany Nelson, were driving when they witnessed the accident happen. Martinez described that the couple were on their way to a friend’s house when they saw “two skydivers collide and fall straight down on top of a building by the skydive.”

Martinez also described being the first person to reach the two victims, after a frantic search for a way to access the rooftop; saying the entire situation was “definitely intense.”

Officials are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident and no further information has been released.

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Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire photos

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.

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