N. Calif. wildfire kills a second Wash. state firefighter
06:30 PM PDT on Sunday, July 27, 2008
REDDING, Calif. -- Authorities say a firefighter who died while scouting a Northern California blaze is likely East Pierce Fire and Rescue Fire Chief Dan Packer.
Klamath National Forest Public Affairs Officer Davida Carnahan said unstable fire conditions were preventing crews from recovering the body.
"It is not safe to try to put anyone else in there right now to retrieve the victim," she said.
Packer, 49, had been deployed Friday to the Panther Fire south of Happy Camp in Siskiyou County in northern California.
East Pierce Fire and Rescue said Packer is a member of a Washington State-based incident management team and is deployed to major incidents, most frequently, large wildland fires.
Carnahan said crews have been pulled off of the fire because of the impact it has had on them, mentally and emotionally.
"All of us on the Klamath National Forest are extremely saddened by this accident," said Carnahan.
FKlamath National Forest spokesman Duane Lyons said a U.S. Forest Service team would arrive Monday to investigate the cause of Packer's death.
Port Townsend firefighter killed Friday
On Friday, 18-year-old Andrew Palmer of Port Townsend died when he was hit by a falling tree while assisting in a wildfire about 50 miles east of Redding, Calif.
Andrew Palmer, 18, based at the Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Wash., was part of a four-member park engine crew that was dispatched Tuesday to a fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Officials said they are investigating the death. Steve Ritchie, a spokesman for the Redding-area fire command center, said Palmer suffered multiple injuries and died while being airlifted to a hospital on Friday.
The recent Port Townsend high school graduate just started working as a firefighter with Olympic National Park in June and was eager to fight his first wildfire.
"He was energetic, enthusiastic, very excited to be here working as a firefighter and that's what his coworkers say as well," said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokesperson.
Palmer had been through 80 hours of training before heading to California.
A fund will be established by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation in Palmer's name. The foundation is online at http://wffoundation.org.
On Sunday, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire issued a statement about the deaths of the firefighters, saying "I am deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two Washington state firefighters who were battling wildfires in Northern California. When called, they stepped up to help our neighbors in California. They gave their lives doing the hard, heroic work of protecting the lives of others."
Flags at fire stations in the Eastern Washington and other jurisdictions around Washington state were lowered to half staff.








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