More details after Redding Hotshot crew crash injures 11
BURNEY — More details have emerged after Tuesday afternoon’s head-on, rollover traffic collision involving a U.S. Forest Service Hotshot crew and a passenger vehicle in the small mountain Intermountain community of Burney. This week’s crash injured eleven people, including all ten crew members of the Interagency Hotshot fire crew, which is based out of Redding and was reportedly returning to its base after completing chainsaw training.
Stanton Florea, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, has since confirmed that all ten Hotshot crew members were injured in the crash of their crew carrier. As of the latest report, two of the Hotshot members were still in the hospital; however they might have been released since that update. The condition of the other involved driver was not immediately available.
LEADING THE SCNS HEADLINES:
Officer, homeowner hospitalized after Redding man goes on biting rampage
UPDATE: Anderson standoff with sword-wielding “sovereign citizen” ends with arrest
Found early March, Burney Creek body yields many clues, no answers
Local fire and rescue personnel were first alerted to the two-vehicle, major-injury traffic collision on Main St./SR-299E, between Tamarack Ave. and Elm St., around 5 p.m., April 30. The first notification of the crash came from a member of the Hotshot crew, who put out an emergency radio transmission that the crew carrier had been involved in a rollover crash with another vehicle.
Rescue personnel began arriving at the chaotic scene within two minutes of the dispatched call and reported numerous injuries, declaring the collision a “mass casualty incident.” A mass casualty incident, sometimes called a multiple-casualty incident, is any incident in which emergency medical resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties.
All ten members of a Redding Hotshot fire crew were injured, including two who suffered “major” injuries. KRCR photo
Based on the number of victims involved in the crash, the Incident Commander at the scene immediately began requesting additional resources, including multiple additional ground and air ambulances to assist with the injured.
Both the driver of the second involved vehicle, later identified by CHP as Linda L. Corr, 66, of McArthur, and one of the Hotshot crew members, later identified as Philip Taylor, 31, were airlifted from the scene to an area hospital. Their injuries were later described by CHP as “major.”
Another Hotshot member, identified as Patrick Larkin, 28, also sustained major injuries and was rushed by ground ambulance to another area hospital.
Isaac Obst, 36, who was driving the Forest Service truck at the time of the accident, and seven other passengers of the crew transport vehicle were transported to another hospital with injuries CHP later described a minor. They have since been identified by CHP as Chris Graves, 33; Daniel Robinson, 33; Courtney Wismer, 29; Jon Lindquist, 28; Michael Cagle, 27; Andrew Edens, 26; and Stephani Kopfman, 25.
The Redding Hotshots differ from other typical Hotshot Crews in that it is a regional resource rather than being tied to a specific National Forest or Park like other Type 1 crews; and its firefighters are assigned to the team from other units.
Linda Corr, 66, of McArthur, suffered major injuries when her vehicle collided head-on with a Forest Service crew transport vehicle, and she was airlifted to an area hospital in serious condition. KRCR photo
During their subsequent accident investigation, CHP determined Corr was driving a 1996 Lexus eastbound on SR-299E when, for an unknown reason, she crossed over the yellow line into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with the westbound Forest Service truck, a 2008 International crew carrier.
The impact caused the truck to overturn and roll partway down an embankment along the side of the winding, two lane mountain highway. Corr’s vehicle was destroyed by the crash and both vehicles were later towed from the scene.
SEE RELATED ORIGINAL STORY:BREAKING: “Mass Casualty Incident” declared after Burney crash involving Redding Hotshots fire crew
The accident and subsequent vehicle recovery caused the two-lane highway to be closed several times, while at other times traffic was allowed to pass the scene of the crash using intermittent, one-way traffic control.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation, and CHP has requested that anyone who may have witnessed the crash to call CHP-Redding at (530) 225-0500. Callers can remain anonymous.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
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 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.