Fort Hunter Liggett Accident: Helicopter Wind Blows Over Tent, Over 20 Casualties

An estimated 22 people were injured after a military base tent collapsed at Fort Hunter Liggett in King City, California, on Wednesday night. Several law enforcement agencies are on the scene of the incident.

“We are gathering information from our people on the ground. At this time we can only confirm that during a landing in a remote training area, an Army Helicopter stirred up some wind and blew over a tent structure. There are no reported fatalities,” officials at Fort Hunter Liggett said.

“The majority of injuries are minor and are being treated on site. Two of the injured were evacuated by air to Fresno, CA and two were evacuated by ground to Twin Cites Medical Center in Templeton,” officials said.

“The training event being conducted is an Army Reserve training exercise called a Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX). We will continue to post information on our Facebook as we confirm details,” they added, Local daily Paso Robles Daily News reported.

However, some reports had earlier suggested that three people were killed in the incident.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesperson Chris Elms said two heavy rescue units – one from the airport in San Luis Obispo and other from North County – were called for but they were canceled as the base believes it could handle the emergency with the crews already on site.

Fort Hunter Liggett is used as a training facility, where soldiers participate in live fire exercises and learn maneuvers.

Commenting about the ongoing Combat Support Training Exercise at the base, Public Affairs Officer Amy Phillips said in a statement released Monday, “CSTX ensures America’s Army Reserve units and Soldiers are trained and ready to deploy on a moment’s notice, bringing capable, combat-ready, and lethal firepower in support of the Army and our joint partners anywhere in the world."