Firefighter killed battling blaze in Lake Tahoe area
VALLEJO, Calif. (KTVU) - A firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service was killed Saturday night, battling a fire in the Lake Tahoe-area, the U.S. Forest Service announced.
The agency issued a press release, which read in part, "it is with great sorrow we must confirm the loss of a U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter this evening in the Lake Tahoe area. The fire crew member succumbed to injuries suffered when struck by a tree during initial firefighting efforts on a new wildfire named the Sierra Fire."
The person's identity was being withheld until the firefighter's family was notified.
The firefighter was killed at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, in a quarter-acre fire located near Echo Summit, right off Highway 50 in El Dorado County, officials said.
A second firefighter suffered moderate injuries in the same incident.
The firefighter was treated at, and later released from a hospital near Lake Tahoe.
Saturday's incident was the second tragedy to hit the U.S. Forest Service in less than two weeks.
On July 31, the body of firefighter, David Ruhl, 38, was found in Modoc County, near the Oregon border.
He had disappeared the day before, while scouting on his own, the "Frog Fire."
Ruhl's body was found near his vehicle, authorities said.
An autopsy indicated he died from carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation.