La Grande Hotshots okay after tree hits truck in Central Oregon fire
By Joe Hathaway on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA PINE – (Information from the U.S. Forest Service) A group of La Grande Hotshot firefighters are okay after a falling ponderosa pine tree hit their fire truck in Central Oregon.
Officials say at 7:30 a.m. on May 4, the Hotshots were headed to the fire line for their day shift when a 19” wide tree fell because of high winds.
The tree hit the windshield as the vehicle was turning off Silver Lake Highway onto Forest Road 7645. Medical personnel evaluated the firefighters, with none of them suffering injuries.
“We had a tree strike that could have been a lot worse. The employees are good, just a little shaken up,” said Cory Thompson, Safety Officer for the South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership Type 3 Incident Management Team. “It was a green tree and it was rotten in the middle. If you looked at [it], you probably could not identify it as a hazard tree.”
Officials say the tree was 113’ tall, with the top 18’ hitting the vehicle. Glass shards were found throughout the cab of the truck.
The firefighters are part of a group fighting the Little Yamsay Fire, burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, south of La Pine, near Chemult.
As of Monday, May 6, the fire was 5% contained and had burned more than 2,000 acres.
