Splashed across hands and face with hot tar in Burney, man seriously injured

UPDATED: Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2 p.m.

BURNEY — According to official radio traffic, a man who was seriously injured after being splashed with hot tar is being transported by ground ambulance to Mercy Medical Center in Redding to rendezvous with a PHI Air Ambulance.

Although PHI’s Med Flight 43 was initially dispatched to the Burney Sheriff’s Mountain Sub-Station, the flight crew was unable to continue due to drift smoke and low visibility throughout the area.

After attempting to fly to an alternate landing zone at Golden Bear, the helicopter crew soon reported they were returning to their base, so the crew could begin preparing for a potential life-flight to UC Davis’ burn center in Sacramento.

Paramedics transporting the victim by ground ambulance updated at 2 p.m. that they were headed to Mercy and requested the hospital be notified regarding the trauma alert and victim’s extensive injuries.

This is a developing story that will be updated as new information is available.

 

BURNEY — A man suffered serious burn injuries after an accident left hot tar splashed across his hands and face in Burney this afternoon. An air ambulance that was initially dispatched to the scene later had to cancel their response due to drift smoke and low visibility throughout the area.

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Emergency personnel were dispatched to the accident around 1 p.m., after receiving reports of a man behind Pit River health clinic on Park Ave., who had been seriously burned when he was splashed with hot tar.

Official radio traffic indicated firefighters and paramedics arrived at the scene within minutes and officials at the scene updated that an air ambulance equipped with Advanced Life Support would be needed and requested an ETA for a life-flight. 

SHASCOM soon advised that PHI’s Med Flight 43 had been dispatched and was headed to the Burney Mountain Sub-Station; however, at 1:25 p.m., the helicopter flight crew updated they would not be able to make the flight to Burney due to low visibility conditions.

The flight crew then attempted to fly to an alternate landing zone at Golden Bear, but within minutes updated they would have to return to the airport and would be fueling up and preparing for a potential flight to UC Davis’ Burn Center in Sacramento.

It was not immediately known how the accident happened, and as of this report emergency personnel were still working out the fastest way to get the victim to Redding so he could be airlifted to a burn center for treatment.

This is a developing story that will be updated as new information is available.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.