Clatskanie man, 29, killed in logging accident
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 7:47 AM PST
By The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleA Clatskanie logger was killed Monday near Knappa in eastern Clatsop County while clearing trees damaged by the early December storms.
Tommy Walker, 29, died when a tree he was falling apparently struck a stump, recoiled and struck Walker in the chest, pinning him against the hillside, according to authorities.
He was working with two other loggers a quarter mile from the nearest road. The other men began walking out of the ravine at quitting time but didn't see Walker. He was already dead by the time his co-workers located him when he failed to show.
The Clatsop County Sheriff's office said it was unknown how much time had elapsed between the time Walker was injured and the time he was found.
"The blown-down trees have got weird tensions in them," said Bud Henderson of Hampton Affiliates, who was among those who helped carry Walker out of the ravine. "You buck them off, and you don't know which way they are going to go."
Walker was working as a subcontractor for Speedbark Enterprises of Knappa, said Clatsop County Sheriff's Sgt. Dean Schroeder.
The accident, which occurred on private land, will be investigated by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Schroeder said. The incident also remains under investigation by Clatsop County Medical Examiner Joann Stefanelli.
The Office along with Knappa Fire Department personnel and Medix ambulance were dispatched shortly after 3 p.m. to the location approximately five miles up Mud Creek Road in snow and ice.
Knappa Fire personnel and Walker’s co-workers labored for nearly three hours in steep, tree-strewn and snow-covered terrain to extricate his body. Next-of-kin in Clatskanie were notified with the assistance of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
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