Alhambra Fire Chief, 3 Others, Die in Crash
Four people from Los Angeles County, including Alhambra Fire Chief Robert Tollady, were killed when a light plane crashed in a forest canyon about 14 miles northeast of Placerville, authorities said.
Tollady, 51, and three other adults were traveling to spend the weekend rafting on the American River when the plane went down at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Sgt. Steve Ayres, spokesman for the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department.
The other victims were identified as Diane Lorraine Prather, 40, of Norwalk; Suzanne Joyce Campbell, 43, of San Gabriel, and Arnold Jerold Grothe, 52, of Downey, Ayres said.
“Before the plane crashed, it lost a wing on a tree,” Ayres said. The weather at the time “was not bad,” he said.
“The chief was at the controls of the plane,” said Alhambra Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Ballard. “He was an excellent pilot.”
Tollady, who began his career with the Alhambra department as a firefighter in 1962, had been fire chief since 1978.
The wreckage was discovered in the El Dorado National Forest at 8:35 a.m. Saturday. Cause of the crash is under investigation.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
