Incident Name:
Date: 10/6/1994
Personnel: Daren James Smith
Age: 23
Agency/Organization: US Forest Service, Idaho
Position: temporary firefighter
Summary: On October 6, 1994, rookie firefighter Daren Smith of the U.S. Forest Service was killed when he was struck by a falling tree. Daren was assigned to one of the engines at the old Clarkia station on the old St. Maries Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle NF. (The station is now closed, and the St. Maries Ranger District is now part of the St. Joe Ranger District, IPNF.) The year 1994 had been a great year to be a rookie FF at Clarkia, the district had 298 fires that year, which is still a record.
On the day of the incident, Daren’s crew had been working in the West Fork of Emerald Creek. A FS sawyer felled a tree. Tragically, it struck and killed Daren.
Maps
West Fork of Emerald Creek: St. Maries Ranger District is now part of the St. Joe Ranger District, IPNF
{mosmap lat=’47.014848’|lon=’-116.408369’|marker=’0’|text=’Approx Location – West Fork of Emerald Creek’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- US Forest Service Heroes Memorial: Daren Smith (Scroll down to 1994)
- Daren’s name and death date are included in the USFA Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, published April 2002 (2,888 K pdf)
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Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports.
- originally reported as a logging accidentLogging accident kills Coeur de Alene man, 23
10/8/1994 | Online Article
A 23-year-old Coeur d’Alene man died Thursday in a logging accident in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Daren J. Smith was working as a sawyer for the US Forest Service in the Saint Joe District of the national forest… He was killed Thursday during a tree-felling accident but the details of the accident had not been released Friday evening.
Smith a 1988 graduate of Post Falls High School, was the son of Dwight and Deanne Smith of Post Falls. He is survived by his wife Gwen and his brother, Dale.
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- Funeral Mass for Daren was held Tuesday (10/11/1994) at 11 AM at St George’s Catholic Church.
- USFA Memorial Database: Daren J. Smith (information there is incorrect; he was not an FMO – Fire Management Officer, but his name is on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial.)
- Daren’s name is listed under Idaho on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial plaque in Maryland.
Contributors to this article: Destry Scheel, John Miller, Rene Vanderhooft
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