CA Fire Lieutenant Falls 300 Feet Saving Fellow Wildland FF

    Oct. 7, 2020
    Rough and Ready Fire Lt. Dave Hicks suffered a fractured shoulder, broken ribs and other injuries when he fell trying to stop a heavy piece of equipment from falling on another firefighter.

    A California fire lieutenant was injured saving a fellow firefighter from being hit by a piece of heavy equipment over the weekend.

    Rough and Ready Fire Lt. Dave Hicks was part of the effort to contain the August Complex fires on Saturday, KXTV-TV reports. That's when he prevented a large piece of equipment from falling on and seriously injuring another firefighter 

    "I knew that if I didn't step in front of it or do something that it would have caused more injuries," Hicks told KXTV.

    His actions sent him down an embankment more than 300 feet.

    "I have three fractures in my shoulder, torn rotator cuff, two broken ribs and a fracture in my pelvis," Hicks old KXTV. 

    Hicks is recovering at his home in Nevada Country. Despite his injuries, he's eager to return to work and get back on the fire line.

    "I'm sitting here missing my crew," Hicks told KXTV. "My crew is out there still working, fighting the (August Complex fires). There's nothing more that I wish I could do to help support them and continuing to help put out the biggest fire in state history and that's something to say."