Incident Name:
Date: 5/24/2017
Personnel: Matthew Beck
Age: 26
Agency/Organization: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Position: wildland firefighter
Summary:
CDCR wildland firefighter, Matthew Beck, 26, died as the result of injuries sustained while working on a county road crew in Humboldt County on May 24, 2017. Matthew and his crew were clearing brush in the Hoopa area. He suffered major head, neck and back injuries when a large, 120-foot tall tree uprooted and fell on him. He died before life-flight crews were able to reach him due to the remoteness of the accident scene.
Photo of Matthew Beck compliments of the CDCR
Maps
Near Ishi Pishi Road between Somes Bar and Orleans, CA
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- News Release 5/25/17 from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR); note that the original release that says he was working on an active fireline; instead he was working on a county road project connected with fire rehab:Inmate Firefighter Killed While Working on County Road Project Near Hoopa
“We are saddened by the death of Matthew Beck, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends,” said CDCR Secretary Scott Kernan. “The inmates who year after year help protect our communities from the devastation of fires perform a valuable public service, and it is a tragic event when we lose one of them.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced that an inmate firefighter died as the result of injuries sustained while working with a crew on a county roads project in Del Norte County.
Matthew Beck, 26, was clearing brush along a road in the Hoopa area. He suffered major head, neck and back injuries yesterday when a large, 120-foot tall tree nearby uprooted and fell on him. He died before life-flight crews were able to reach him due to the remoteness of the accident scene.
Beck, who was assigned to the Alder Conservation Camp in Del Norte County, was received from Los Angeles County in May 2014 and was serving a six-year sentence for burglary. He is the fourth inmate firefighter to die in a fire-related accident since the conservation program was created in the 1940s.
Approximately 3,900 inmates, all volunteers, are housed in 43 conservation camps operated by CDCR, in conjunction with CALFIRE, the state of California’s wildland firefighting agency, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Working in crews of 12 or 14, CDCR firefighters often work in rugged back country using hand tools to cut containment lines to stop the spread of wildland fires.
- Emergency Response to Inmate Firefighter Killed in Northern California Hampered by Weak Radio Signal (Actually cell phone reception is weak to non-existant along Ishi Pishi Road and in most of the rugged area.)06/06/2017 | KQED online article
photos of deadly tree; beware of hazard trees; tree photos from KQED TV.
Wildlandfire Links:
Media Articles and Reports
- Hoopa: Inmate firefighter dies from injuries (CDCR News Release)May 25, 2017 | KRCR Northcoast News 7
- CDCR: Inmate Firefighter Killed While Working on the Fire Lline Near HoopaMay 25, 2017 | Lost Coast Outpost Online Article
- California Inmate Firefighter Killed by Falling TreeMay 25, 2017, updated May 27, 2017 | Online Article from Wildfire Today
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
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