Fire rescue helicopter crashes into building in Florida; 2 dead, 2 hospitalized

A firefighter and a woman were killed Monday morning after a fire rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment building near Fort Lauderdale, sending at least four people to the hospital.

Emergency personnel responded to a call of "an aircraft alert" after the Broward County sheriff's fire rescue helicopter crashed southwest of the Pompano Beach Airpark, said sheriff's spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Captain Terryson Jackson, 50, died in the crash. The woman has not been named.

The airpark is just north of Fort Lauderdale, near the Miami metropolitan area.

Other personnel aboard the helicopter at the time of the crash were Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Pilot Daron Roche, 37, and Broward Sheriff Firefighter Paramedic Mikael “Mike” Chaguaceda, 31, said Coleman-Wright.

"Pompano Beach Fire Rescue transported a total of four people, two Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue employees and two civilians, to Broward Health North hospital for treatment for their injuries," said Coleman-Wright.

"According to the hospital, they do not have life-threatening injuries and are listed in fair condition," she said.

What happened?

Brittany Trotter, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the crash happened at 7:45 a.m. local time and involved a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter.

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Images posted on social media show gray smoke billowing into the air from the apartment building. Another aerial shot of the scene shows firefighters blasting water into the building, which has a large hole in its roof.

The FAA said its agency and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the cause of the crash.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.