And they closed a freeway down that is pretty removed from the crash site.
Not unusual at all. Guard and Reserve pilots travel near and far to their assigned units in order to keep their slot in a coveted unit and type aircraft. The grunts (a/c support staff/ground crew/base support) tend to live within proximity of a given base, due to the economic factors relating to travel costs and mileage considerations.
Aircraft pilots in Guard and Reserve units that drill one weekend a month, tend to have good paying commercial airline pilot jobs affording them the ability to fly across the country to their military jobs for free or at deep discount. Some are even civilian test pilots at the major manufacturers of both civilian and military aircraft, due to the accumulation of hours and essential experiences at their military positions, in both active duty and guard and reserve units.
A lot of time, Guard and Reserve pilots fly more hours per month than their active duty counterparts, since they are very limited to the amount of time committed to their weekend duties, and the flying has to get done.
In my old unit- the 183rd Fighter Wing, 170th Fighter Squadron F-4s & F-16s) the pilots would typically arrive on Friday, fly on Friday night, fly one or two missions on Saturday and one or two missions on Sunday, then travel to their home or civilian job on Monday, for a four day commitment. One makes the time when one is flying for duty, honor, country, time, experience and kaching.