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The California woman killed in a hot air balloon accident Monday was known as an active woman who loved traveling and politics.

Rosemary W. Phillips, 60, of Oceanside, Calif., was killed Monday when she fell from a balloon that had snagged in a utility line.

Her partner, Cheri Dias, 70, was also in the balloon along with their friends Doris Currier, 52, formerly of Vista, Calif., and Susan Simpson, 57, of Orange, Calif.

A friend of the California women, Mary Ann Roberds, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the four woman often took trips together.

Neighbors near the Lockwood Place home in Oceanside that Phillips and Dias shared until several months ago remembered the two as friendly and active, saying they loved to travel.

"We were really sad to hear about it," said Mike Krikorian, who lived across the street with his wife, Marion. "Any time someone passes away you think about the good times."

The Krikorians said Phillips and Dias loved gardening, held yard sales and were active in local and national politics. The two moved to a San Diego-area senior community several months ago, wanting a smaller home than the one they left in the well-tended Lockwood neighborhood, they said.

Before moving to California, Phillips had lived in Alaska, where she was executive director of the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1989. She was a member of the Nome City Council from 1978 to 1982.

She and her late husband, C.J. Phillips, owned a liquor store in Nome and were involved in other enterprises as well, including the reindeer business, longtime Nome city controller Cussy Kauer told the newspaper.

Neighbor June Garrett, 84, said Phillips and Dias, who shared a home, mentioned they were going to a balloon festival in Albuquerque but didn't mention going up in a balloon.

"They were so enthused about this locale," Garrett said. "Very, very nice people, both of them."

Friend Anita York remembered Phillips as "a wonderful, kind and caring human being," she said. "I'm devastated."

The North County (Calif.) Times and the Associated Press contributed to this report.