‘Starting to look a lot better’: Rain aids Mosquito fire battle, but brings flood, mudflow risk
This article was updated at 5:30 p.m. on June 5 with the following correction: Two people were killed and the other two injured in the fire. The original article stated that the two people killed in the fire were identified as “John Doe-1” and “Jane Doe-1.” These are the names of two members of the same family, but their names were mistakenly deleted from the report. They were later identified as Stephen Toth and Mary Toth, respectively.
Two people were killed and the other two injured in a June 4 wildland fire in the eastern Sierra. Firefighters responded to a report of embers falling from the trees near the town of Mosquito on the Sierra National Forest. Firefighters found two victims with serious burns on their feet, arms and faces at the burned-over site, about a mile from a nearby road. One victim was pronounced dead after firefighters arrived at the scene, and the other was still in serious condition with burns to his face.
The victim was identified as John Doe-1, 43, of Sierra, according to the Sierra County Coroner’s Office.
The other two victims were identified as John Doe-2, 38, of Sacramento, and Jane Doe-2, 35, of Sacramento, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Doe-1 was a member of the John Doe Family, a nonprofit group that raises money for families impacted by the wildfires in California, according to the website Johndoe.org.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Doe-1’s brother, Jeff, said the group’s efforts are essential to helping the families whose lives were so tragically devastated by the wildfires.
“We need to take comfort in the fact that our family isn’t alone and that there are thousands of John Does out there supporting them,” Jeff said in the statement.
Doe-1 started the nonprofit group in 2016 when the wildfires began, to support other families and fight for their rights, according to the website.
John Doe’s Facebook page, Johndoe.org, says the organization aims “to bring support and assistance for people impacted by the devastation wrought by California’s wildfires.”
The group has raised money to help families affected by wildfires and other disasters. In 2018, it announced plans to use the money to rebuild a fire