USFA LODD: California Firefighter On-Duty Death Notification 10.16.2017

On October 16, 2017 Firefighter/Driver Garrett Paiz, 38, was killed in Napa, California, while operating an empty 1993 Kenworth water tender (tanker) when, according to the California Highway Patrol, the vehicle left the roadway on a curve and crashed through a guardrail down a ravine.  Firefighter/Driver Paiz, who died at the scene, was working on the Nuns fire burning in the hills above Oakville and was heading for a water resupply when the crash occurred near the bottom of a steep winding section of roadway called the Oakville Grade. According to initial reports, the roadway was closed for fire operations only at the time of the crash, and no other vehicles were involved. Firefighter/Driver Paiz, a native of the Coachella Valley in Southern California, and a volunteer firefighter with the Noel Fire Department in Missouri, was working as a contract firefighter with CAL FIRE at the time of his passing. The cause of the fatal incident remains under investigation by authorities.

Our condolences to the Paiz Family & Friends, CAL FIRE, and to all affected by Firefighter/Driver Garrett Paiz’s passing. 

To date, 74 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2017. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Fatality Notices page.

(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)