US Forest Service Firefighter Killed While Battling Blaze
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service says one of its firefighters was killed Saturday evening in the Lake Tahoe area after he was struck by a tree while battling a wildfire.
The agency says in a news release that the firefighter was hit about 5:30 p.m. while working in a remote area between the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and Eldorado National Forest. The release did not identify him or provide an age.
The Forest Service says a second male firefighter who was also injured in the incident has been treated and released from a nearby hospital.
On July 30, a firefighter was killed by a wildfire in Northern California as he scouted the area and became trapped by the wind-stoked blaze, officials said Saturday.
U.S. Forest Service firefighter David Ruhl, 38, was driving down a Modoc National Forest road in a vehicle. The fire suddenly grew and trapped him, information officer Ken Sandusky said.
Ruhl, of Rapid City, South Dakota, had been on temporary assignment since June in California, where he was an assistant fire management officer for the Big Valley Ranger District of the Modoc National.
