Yesterday I had the unfortunate experience of watching a tree strike a Cal Fire Captain and send him to the hospital. I am the sponsor's onsite representative and determine the course of action take by the inmate hand crews. I relate most of my directions to the Captain, who relays to the crew but often I just speak to the crew members. In this case one of my supervisors was onsite for a different purpose and he and I were standing be the idling chipper talking. The saw team was 85' up the slope and had faced a12" dbh by 75' tall madrone , they then yelled "back cut, down the hill" when the Captain when into their controlled area and kneeled down to fuel his saw. Their saw was off so they could hear any response and they made eye contact with the Captain. The saw team waited until the Captain fueled his saw and waved them off. He then disappeared behind a 48" dbh D-fir and began facing a 12" dbh fir. Neither could see the other. The saw team yelled again and began the back cut. When the madrone came down the Captain was moving from behind it. I yelled "falling", he spun away but the top of the tree hit him on the back of his right calf.
The impact and the pain of the strike kept him on the ground for the time it took me to find a route up the cut bank, grab his radio, and reach him. Maybe 30 seconds went by. The impact was plainly visible on his Nomex pants. Swelling started immediately. I did a quick assessment and determined nothing appeared broken. After a couple minutes the Captain radioed for an ambulance code 2. He also called for either Cal Fire or CDCR (corrections) to come up and take custody of the crew. Despite the Captain's clear reporting of the address the Battalion Chief ended up 20 miles away in a state park. I thought it was funny but nobody else did. CDCR arrived in 30 minutes. The ambulance took 45 minutes, loaded the Captain and left. The Batt Chief took an hour. Now there were lots people but no one to drive the crew bus and the inmates back to camp. Two more Captains finally arrived and drove the crew home. In the mean time the BC interviewed the saw team and the swamper and me and of course took the obligatory pictures.
Today two more crews showed up. We left the site of the incident alone except for falling the tree the Captain had faced. I had the team cut a second face above the first one and fall the 12' dbh D-fir the Captain was working on just prior to the strike. The rest of the day was uneventful.
The impact and the pain of the strike kept him on the ground for the time it took me to find a route up the cut bank, grab his radio, and reach him. Maybe 30 seconds went by. The impact was plainly visible on his Nomex pants. Swelling started immediately. I did a quick assessment and determined nothing appeared broken. After a couple minutes the Captain radioed for an ambulance code 2. He also called for either Cal Fire or CDCR (corrections) to come up and take custody of the crew. Despite the Captain's clear reporting of the address the Battalion Chief ended up 20 miles away in a state park. I thought it was funny but nobody else did. CDCR arrived in 30 minutes. The ambulance took 45 minutes, loaded the Captain and left. The Batt Chief took an hour. Now there were lots people but no one to drive the crew bus and the inmates back to camp. Two more Captains finally arrived and drove the crew home. In the mean time the BC interviewed the saw team and the swamper and me and of course took the obligatory pictures.
Today two more crews showed up. We left the site of the incident alone except for falling the tree the Captain had faced. I had the team cut a second face above the first one and fall the 12' dbh D-fir the Captain was working on just prior to the strike. The rest of the day was uneventful.