Second Firefighter Suffers Less Serious Injuries
Posted: Wednesday, October 6, 1999 - 2 PM
NICOLE LOZARE
Firehouse.Com News
Fifty fire units and an honor guard assembled at the San Diego Airport this
morning in
honor of the 20-year-old firefighter who died Tuesday morning in the La
Jolla Fire. Gregory
Pacheco suffered from massive head injuries when a falling boulder hit him
on the head
Sunday night.
An honor guard carried the casket into a plane waiting to take Pacheco and
his family
back home to New Mexico.
The 3-year veteran firefighter was on life support. He never regained
conciousness.
Pacheco is survived by his parents and a brother and sister.
Pacheco, a Native American, was a member of the "Penasco Five" Indian Hand
Crew
from the Carson National Forest in New Mexico. Another member of the Penasco
Five was also
hit by the falling boulders and suffered minor shoulder injuries.
No funeral arrangements have yet been made. Donations can be made to:
-
The Carson National Forest
208 Cruz Alta Road
Taos, New Mexico 87571
Incident Overview from USFS (Wednesday Update):
LA JOLLA, Cleveland National Forest -- 7,691 acres.
This fire is near Warner Springs, CA, and approximately 15 miles northeast of Escondido, CA.
It is in a unified command between the USDA Forest Service and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. An Area Incident Management Team is assigned.
The fire burned off the La Jolla Indian Reservation and onto the Cleveland National Forest.
A firefighter, who was a member of the Penasco Five crew out of the Carson National Forest in New Mexico, died on October 5th as a result of a serious head injury he received on October 3rd when hit by a boulder rolling downhill.
Four structures (not permanent residences) were destroyed by the fire. Fire crews are continuing to complete and improve control lines around the fire. Cooler temperatures and higher relative humidities are expected to be beneficial to the firefighting efforts.
925 personnel are assigned to the fire. 80 percent of the work necessary to stop the spread of the fire has been completed.
