OR Firefighter Found Dead in Vehicle at Wildfire Staging Area
An Oregon firefighter working heavy equipment at the Archie Creek Fire was found dead in his vehicle, according to the wildfire's interagency management team.
Walter "Wally" Samuel Elsbury Jr., 67, had been working for a week at the Archie Creek Fire in western Oregon, near Glide, the Incident Management Team for the wildfire stated in an online update Wednesday. He was running a "skidgine"— a mix between a logging skidder and fire engine—to keep flames away from structures on the west end of the wildfire.
"Fire personnel found Mr. Elsbury unresponsive in his vehicle at a fire staging area Friday morning, September 18, 2020, before he began his shift as a heavy equipment operator," stating the online update, adding that foul play is not suspected.
Elsbury was a lifelong logger and operated heavy equipment for the Elsbury Logging Company in Burns. During the summer, he would help contain wildfires in the state.
“The Bureau of Land Management, Umpqua National Forest and Douglas Forest Protective Association are deeply saddened over Mr. Elsbury’s death,” Incident Commander Mike Dueitt said in a statement. “We want the Elsbury family to know our Incident Management Team, the firefighting community as a whole and the residents along Little River Road are forever grateful for the work Wally did to protect homes from the Archie Creek Fire. Our condolences to you for the loss of your loved one.”
Angie Courtney, one of Elsbury's three daughters, told KTMR-TV that she wasn't aware of any pre-existing medical conditions her father had. He did say the he wasn't feeling well and had seen medics, she added.
"That's my dad," Courtney told KTMR. "He's a simple guy. He's not a sipping-mojitos-on-the-beach type of a guy. He's a work-till-the-day-he-dies type of guy. I mean, literally."
The family is waiting for the medical examiner to rule on the cause of death. Elsbury is survived by a wife, three children and two grandchildren.