Former Auburn Mayor Who Criticized Trump Dies In Sierra Foothills Plane Crash
AUBURN (CBS/AP) -- The former mayor of Auburn, who stepped down after he harshly criticized President Donald Trump and his supporters died Saturday in a plane crash.
Officials said Dr. Bill Kirby, who was the mayor of Auburn, died in the crash Saturday morning near the Auburn Municipal Airport.
Kirby, a urologist, was the pilot of the plane that crashed shortly after 11 a.m. A passenger in the plane suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.
The small plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Auburn airport on Saturday in a field near the 3800 block of Cedar Mist Lane, northwest of the Auburn Municipal Airport.
The single-engine aircraft was engulfed in fire after crashing shortly before 11 a.m., Placer County Sheriff's Lt. Andrew Scott said.
Sheriff investigators were looking into the cause of the crash with the assistance of the National Transportation Board, whose investigators will participate remotely instead of traveling to the crash site due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Scott said.
Deputies and @CAL_FIRE are on scene of a plane crash in North Auburn. Media: PIOs are at Tractor Supply at Highway 49 & Dry Creek. pic.twitter.com/QPSwRaECaw
— Lt. Andrew Scott (@AndrewScottPCSO) April 18, 2020
Kirby gained notoriety last week after social media posts criticizing Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic and comparing the president's supporters to KKK members.
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