Month

A 72-year-old worker was killed in a meat grinder at a Hanford meat processing plant. (Photo: CBS Channel 47 News)

Workplace fatality: An elderly worker was killed in a meat grinder at the Central Valley Meat Company in Hanford.

•   A 72-year-old man was cleaning a meat grinder at a meat processing plant when someone else flipped a switch and turned on the machine.

•   The man was killed. His body was found inside the machine.

•  Cal/OSHA had investigated two meat grinder accidents at the same plant during the past several years. The company has been fined for not having proper lockouts on the grinders.

The deadly accident occurred shortly before 5 a.m., according to a KMJ Radio News report.

Kings County Sheriff’s office commander Robert Thayer told KMJ that 72-year-old Leopoldo Gutierrez of Hanford was cleaning a meat grinder when somebody else flipped the switch and turned on the machine.

“When they did that, they heard an unfamiliar sound. Investigators found the victim down in the machine. The death was instantaneous,” Thayer said.

According to KMPH News, Central Valley Meat general manager Brian Coelho issued the following statement:

“Despite all safety precautions there was an unforeseen tragic accident at our plant earlier today. An employee was killed while cleaning a batching machine. The circumstances are being fully investigated. We have no further comment at this time.”

The Kings County Sheriff’s Office will forward its findings to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA).

Cal/OSHA spokesperson Krisann Chasarik said the meat processing plant already has been investigated for two previous accidents involving meat grinders, according to a San Jose Mercury News report.

The most recent accident was less than three months ago (December 2010), when a worker caught her hand in the grinder and suffered a partial amputation. That accident is still under investigation. Prior to that, in November 2004, a worker who was cleaning a meat grinder accidentally turned on the machine but was able to switch it off before getting sucked inside. The company paid a $1,100 fine for failing to properly lock out the device in that case, Chasarik said.

OSHA regulations require all potentially hazardous equipment to be “stopped, isolated from all potentially hazardous energy sources and locked out before employees perform any servicing or maintenance where the unexpected energization or start-up of the machine or equipment or release of stored energy could cause injury.”

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented victims of workplace accidents for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is1-866-692-8126.

A contract worker at UC Riverside was electrocuted on the job Thursday.

A 71-year-old man was electrocuted on the job Thursday at the U.C. Irvine campus. The man was working on an electrical panel in the basement of the Geology building.

•   A master electrician was working alone at U.C. Irvine when he was electrocuted.

•   He didn’t return when expected, so others went to look for him. He was dead when they found him.

•   Campus police, the coroner’s office, and Cal/OSHA are investigating the accident.

The workplace accident occurred shortly after 1 p.m., according to an article in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Campus spokeswoman Kris Lovekin said Corona resident Curtis Elmer Martin was working alone when he was electrocuted.

“He did not return when he was expected and someone went to find him,” Lovekin said. Authorities found him lifeless and pronounced him dead at 1:13 p.m., the Press-Enterprise reported.

Martin was a contract worker employed by Stonghold Engineering. The company’s executive vice president, Charles Gossage, said Martin had 50 years experience and was a master electrician. Martin had worked for the company for seven years, but had knew Gossage for many years prior to that. He was an icon in the industry, Gossage said.

Victims of electrocution can be revived if immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or defibrillation is provided, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).  In some cases, performing  CPR within four minutes can save an electrocuted person’s life if the CPR is followed by advanced cardiac life support within eight minutes.

Because Martin was working alone, he was not discovered until it was too late to perform CPR. Campus officials said there were no regulations prohibiting Martin from working alone.

Campus police, the Riverside County coroner and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) are investigating the accident.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented victims of workplace accidents for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is1-866-692-8126.

Solo big-rig crash: A truck driver suffered major injuries when his big-rig overturned and spilled a load off citric acid on Highway 152. (Photo: Gilroy Dispatch)

Two early-morning solo big-rig crashes — one in the Los Angeles area and the other near Los Banos — left one truck driver dead and another hospitalized with major injuries on Wednesday.

•  A truck driver had a heart attack on I-605 in Santa Fe Springs and drove off the side of the freeway. He died at the scene.

•  Two hours later, another truck driver failed to negotiate a turn on Highway 152 near Los Banos and hit the center median. His truck flipped over and spilled a load of citric acid. He sustained major injuries.

•   Both highways were closed for a significant period of time.

The first accident was a freeway crash in Santa Fe Springs, about 15 miles southeast of Los Angeles. It took place shortly after 5 a.m., according to a report in the Pasadena Star-News.

California Highway Patrol officer David Helfrich said the driver suffered a heart attack while he was driving north on Interstate 605. After the attack, he lost control of his truck and drove off the side of the freeway near Telegraph Road.

His truck flipped over into a ditch. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not released but CHP officer Ed Jacobs told the Los Angeles Times he was 63 years old.

The accident blocked a lane of traffic on the heavily traveled commute corridor during the morning rush hour.

The second accident occurred almost two hours later and more than 300 miles away. The time of that crash was 6:54 a.m., according to an article in the Gilroy Dispatch.

A big rig hauling a load of granulated citric acid was traveling on eastbound Highway 152, east of the Romero Overlook Visitors Center between Highway 101 and Interstate 5.  The driver was unable to negotiate a right-hand curve in the road, and his truck veered onto the center median, the CHP said. The truck flipped over and landed on the driver’s side (see photo above).

The driver sustained major injuries and was transported to the nearest hospital to be treated.

The crash caused a rupture in a 1000-kilogram (1.1-ton) container of the citric acid, which spilled onto the center median and a westbound lane. CHP officers determined it was hazardous. One lane of the highway was closed for 10 hours while the accident was investigated and the spill was cleared.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing truck accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

This stolen pickup truck overturned after a hit-and-run crash that killed two people in Hemet. (Photo: Riverside Press-Enterprise)

Police have arrested a driver believed to be responsible for an early-morning  fatal hit-and-run crash in a stolen pickup truck Wednesday in Hemet.

•  A 25-year-old man stole a pickup truck and was speeding through town at least 60 mph after midnight when he ran a stop sign and crashed into another pickup truck.

•   The passenger in the stolen truck and the driver of the other truck both died. A passenger in the other truck was hospitalized with head lacerations.

•   The stolen truck driver fled the scene on foot but police later found him and arrested him on three felony counts.

The accident occurred at 12:47 a.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press Enterprise.

California Highway Patrol Officer Daryl Crandall said 25-year-old Shane Albatross Stanscheit was driving a stolen Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck  north on Cornell Street at Stetson Avenue when the crash occurred. He ran the stop sign at Stetson Avenue and broadsided another Silverado pickup truck, driven by 44-year-old Luciano Cervantes.

The crash thrust Cervantes’ pickup into the front yard of a house on the corner, where it crashed into a palm tree at the front door. The stolen pickup Stanscheit was driving rolled over and landed on its roof.

Stanscheit’s passenger, 26-year-old Chris Caldwell, was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown through the windshield. He died on the way to the hospital.

Cervantes died at the scene. He and his wife had been taking their three children — ages 3, 7 and 13 – to a relative’s home on the way to work on an overnight theater cleaning crew. Cervantes’ wife, Maria, suffered cuts to her head and was hospitalized. The three children all suffered minor injuries.

“We’re estimating the minimum speed the suspect was going was 60 mph, given this was a pretty horrific crash,” Crandall said.

Stanscheit fled the scene on foot. Witnesses said he called Caldwell’s name and then ran away screaming, “Oh, God!”

When police went to the home of Caldwell’s parents to notify them of their son’s death, they found Stanscheit there and arrested him, according to a Southwest Riverside News Network report. He was charged with felony hit and run, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and possession of a stolen vehicle, CHP officer Scott Beauchene said. Officers were awaiting toxicology tests to determine if alcohol was a factor.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented families of wrongful death victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Highway 1 crash: A young nanny was killed and two others were injured in Pescadero on Tuesday night.

A 26-year-old San Mateo nanny was killed Tuesday night in a Highway 1 crash in Pescadero. Two others sustained serious injuries.

•   A San Mateo nanny driving a Honda Civic turned left on Highway 1 in front of an oncoming Chevy Suburban.

•   The vehicles collided and the nanny was killed.

•   A 69-year-old grandmother riding in the Suburban sustained major injuries and was airelifted to a hospital. An 8-year-old boy was taken to the hospital via ground ambulance.

The fatal highway crash occurred at around 6:45 p.m., according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.

California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel said the nanny, Ryan McKnight, was driving a 1989 Honda Civic south on Highway 101 at the time of the accident. As she approached Rossi Road, McKnight turned left in front of an oncoming (northbound) 2001 Chevy Suburban driven by a 33-year-old woman.

The two vehicles collided and McKnight was killed. A coroner was dispatched and declared her dead at the scene.

Rescue workers had to use special equipment to extricate one of the victims, but the CHP did not say which person or which vehicle.

There were five passengers in the Suburban, including a 69-year-old grandmother and four children. The grandmother was airlifted to Stanford Hospital with major injuries. An 8-year-old boy was also taken to Stanford Hospital; he was transported via ground ambulance. His injuries were described as moderate.  The driver, a 10-year-old girl and 6-year-old twin boys did not suffer more than minor injuries, Montiel said.

The CHP did not suspect that drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash, but were awaiting toxicology reports to make a final determination.

Officials closed a stretch of Highway near the crash scene for several hours while they investigated the accident. It was reopened shortly before midnight.

Left-turn accidents are far too common. Many factors are involved in determining fault, but it is a basic rule of the road that a car making a left turn must wait until it can safely complete the turn before pulling out in front of oncoming traffic. California’s Vehicle Code (Section 21801)  requires drivers who want to make a left turn to “yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement.”

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented highway crash injury victims for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Bus crash: A driver was killed and two dozen teens hospitalized after a church bus crash in the San Bernardino mountains. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

Two dozen teens were hospitalized Monday morning after their church bus crashed and slid down a snowy slope in the San Bernardino mountains. The bus driver died in the crash.

•   A church bus drifted into oncoming traffic on steep mountain road and crashed into another vehicle, then knocked over a power pole and skidded completely off the road and down a snowy embankment, where it crashed head-on into a tree.

•  The driver died at the scene.

•   About half of the two dozen teens on board were trapped on the bus and had to be extricated by rescue workers. All of them were injured; 10 were in critical condition.

The deadly highway crash occurred at about 11:50 a.m., according to a report in the San Bernardino Sun.

A bus with a Light of Love Missionary Church logo in the side was traveling west down a steep, slippery stretch of Highway 189 near Lake Gregory when it drifted into oncoming traffic and collided with an eastbound Nissan Murano, California Highway Patrol officer Mario Lopez told the Los Angeles Times.  The Nissan belonged to the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

The bus then knocked over a telephone pole and slid down a snow-covered embankment, where it slammed head-on into a tree. The driver, whom the coroner identified as 61-year-old Won Seok Chae, died at the scene, according to a local newspaper, the Big Bear Grizzly.

Daniel Lee, deacon at the Pasadena church that owns the bus, told the Los Angeles Daily News the bus was returning from a retreat at the Pinecrest Christian Conference Center, near the spot where the accident occurred.

About half of the passengers were trapped on the bus and had to be extricated by rescue crews, who set up a makeshift triage center nearby. Ten of the teens sustained major injuries and were listed in critical condition, according to the Times; 13 others suffered moderate injuries. The victims were transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. Some were airlifted and some were taken via ground ambulance.

Some reports said at least two fatalities were confirmed so far. It wasn’t known if the victims in critical condition were expected to survive.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented passenger van injury victims for almost 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Four people were killed Friday morning in a pre-dawn freeway crash on the connector between Interstate 10 and Interstate 215 near San Bernardino.  All of the victims were in their early 20s.

•  A 21-year-old driver lost control of his BMW on I-10.

•  The car spun out, skidded across the freeway, hit a raised curb, and flipped over onto its roof.

•   The BMW continued to skid on its roof until it slammed into a freeway sign pole.

•   The driver and his three passengers — all in their early 20s — were killed.

The fatal solo car accident occurred at 2:05 a.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Police said 21-year-old Matthew Austin Hanson was driving a 1999 BMW in the fast lane at an excessive rate of speed when he lost control of the vehicle. California Highway Patrol investigators believe the BMW veered to the left and Hanson jerked the steering wheel turned to the right to try to correct it, causing the car to go into a spin.

The BMW spun clockwise and skidded across all of the traffic lanes and onto the right shoulder, where it hit a raised curb at the end of the connector ramp, flipped over, and landed on its roof, CHP investigators said. The car continued to skid on its roof until it slammed into a freeway sign pole near Colton.

“It was almost sheared in half, wrapped around the pole,” CHP officer Steven Robinson said.

Hanson and all three of his passengers died in the accident. Officials identified the passengers as 24-year-old Hector Naranjo, 20-year-old Bridgette Rodriguez and 21-year-old Tyronne Keivon Smith. All of them were from San Bernardino.

“Only the driver was wearing a seat belt,” Robinson said. “I can’t say whether the seat belts would have saved [the others]. The sheer impact on the roof was a factor in the fatalities.”

Investigators were trying to find out where the victims were coming from or where they were going, in order to try to determine exactly what happened.

“Officers will be checking on what they were doing for the last 24 hours,” Robinson said. “In any fatal collisions we like to know as much as possible … to give us an idea what caused the accident.”

Investigators did not say whether they suspected that alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented people injured in highway and interstate crashes for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Six firefighters were trapped when a waterlogged ceiling fell on them while they were fighting a blaze in the Hollywood Hills. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

A small attic fire turned into an overnight catastrophe Thursday when a roof collapse trapped six firefighters in a Hollywood Hills home.

•   Firefighters responded to an attic fire in a Hollywood Hills mansion and were able to put it out in 90 minutes. The residents escaped without injury. But …

•   A fire sprinkler broke or melted in the fire and leaked so much water into the ceiling that it got waterlogged. When it got too heavy, it fell in one huge piece and trapped six firefighters.

•   Rescuers pulled out five of the trapped firefighters immediately, but the sixth was buried under the weight of the debris.

•   When rescuers finally reach the veteran firefighter, he was in cardiac arrest and was not breathing. He was rushed to the hospital in grave condition.

Los Angeles city and county firefighters responded to a call about an attic fire at a $7 million mansion on Wednesday at about 11:20 p.m., according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

It took about 90 minutes to put out the fire. The residents escaped without injury, but the worst was yet to come.

Firefighter down: 38-year LAFD veteran Glenn Allen died in the line of duty.

Some firefighters were still on the roof while others were inside making sure the fire was completely out. Suddenly the ceiling collapsed on six firefighters.

Water had collected in the ceiling when a sprinkler broke or melted, according to fire captain Tina Haro. But because the ceiling was securely attached to the roof and was airtight, none of the water dripped out to warn firefighters of impending danger. When the weight of the water became too great, the ceiling fell through in one piece, Haro said.

A “firefighter down” alert was issued and crews immediately conducted a search and rescue operation for their injured comrades, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department news blog. Five firefighters were rescued right away, but the sixth firefighter was engulfed in the waterlogged ceiling debris, which was too heavy to move by hand.

Rescue crews had to use chainsaws and power tools to get to the trapped firefighter, 61-year-old Glenn Allen, a 39-year LAFD veteran. By the time they reached him, he was not breathing. Allen was in full cardiac arrest, according to the Times report. Rescuers resuscitated him with CPR and rushed him to nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was listed in grave condition.

UPDATE: Glenn Allen died from his injuries on Friday. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered city flags lowered to half-staff in memory of the fallen firefighter.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented building collapse victims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Critical burn injury: A Gardena father was hospitalized in critical condition from burns he received while rescuing other family members from an apartment fire. (Photo: Daily Breeze)

A 47-year-old man suffered critical burn injuries Wednesday morning when he rescued his family from a raging fire in their Gardena apartment.

•   A cook pot left unattended started a raging fire in a Gardena apartment at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

•  A family of five lived in the apartment. The father rescued his entire family from the intense blaze, but suffered severe burn injuries while doing so.

•   The entire family was hospitalized at Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where the father remains in critical condition.

The fire started at 1 a.m. at the Pueblo apartment complex, 2501 West Redondo Beach Boulevard, according to a report in the Daily Breeze, a local newspaper based in Torrance.

Los Angeles County fire Inspector Matt Levesque said the blaze started in the kitchen, as a result of unattended cooking on the stove top.  As flames burst out of the window and shot up above the roof, the father gathered his family and pulled them out of the burning apartment to safety before firefighters arrived.

Finally he collapsed outside of the apartment with one of his children in his arms. One neighbor took the child while others grabbed emergency fire hoses and tried to put out the fire or at least keep it from spreading. Other neighbors ran around the complex and knocked on doors, alerting others and warning them to evacuate.

“The fire was getting intense,” said neighbor Andrea Austin. “I didn’t know if the family had made it out.”

They did. The 35-year-old mother, 10-year-old daughter, and 6- and 3-year-old sons survived the fire with moderate burn injuries and smoke inhalation, firefighters said. The heroic father was in critical condition, with second- and third-degree burns to his face, chest and upper arms.

All of them were taken to Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.

Firefighters put out the blaze in 20 minutes, according to a brief report in the Los Angeles Times. The blaze was contained to one unit, but neighboring units suffered smoke damage.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have special expertise in burn injury cases and have been representing victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Taxi Crash: Sam Hassan Daly (inset) crashed his cab into a popular San Diego night club and injured 23 people, some of them critically.

A taxi driver who apparently blacked out at the wheel crashed his cab into a popular San Diego night club early Saturday morning at closing time, causing serious injuries to at least 23 people. One woman almost lost her leg after it was crushed in the accident.

•  A San Diego cab driver apparently blacked out at the wheel and drove his cab onto the sidewalk, plowing through a large crowd gathered outside a popular Gaslamp District night club.

•  One woman’s leg was crushed, while 23 others suffered major injuries. It took a dozen ambulances to transport all of the injured people to area hospitals. The club owner said it “looked like a war zone.”

•  Police are still investigating and have not yet arrested the cab driver.

The horrific pedestrian accident occurred shortly before 2 a.m., according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

A crowd of club-goers stood on the sidewalk in front of Stingaree, a popular night spot in the city’s historic Gaslamp District, when an Emerald Cab driven by 48-year-old Sam Hassan Daly veered off  of Sixth Avenue and onto the sidewalk (on the corner of Sixth and Island avenues). San Diego police traffic Lt. Rick O’Hanlon said Daly may have fallen asleep or blacked out at the wheel.

The taxi cab plowed through the crowd and crashed into the night club, pinning 45-year-old mother Dominique Gambale against the outer wall and crushing her leg. It looked at first as though her leg had been completely severed from her body, but it was still attached.

The night club’s lead security guard — a former Marine — quickly ripped off his necktie and tied it around Gambale’s leg as a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Doctors said that may have saved her life.

She was rushed to U.C. San Diego Medical Center, where a team of orthopedic surgeons was able to save her leg, according to KGTV News, a local ABC News affiliate.

“Mrs. Gambale has experienced an extreme crushing injury to her right leg, which was still attached at the time of her injury,” said Dr. Paul Girard. “In addition to a tibia fracture, she has a large open wound, which will require the care of a multidisciplinary team of top orthopaedic, vascular and plastic surgeons.”

Girard said Gambale is expected to walk again but her right leg will not regain its full function or appearance.

A dozen ambulances took 23 others to hospitals to be treated for broken ankles, hip injuries, neck trauma, back and spine injuries, concussions, and other life-altering injuries, fire officials said. A number of others weren’t hospitalized but were treated at the scene for scrapes and bruises, the Union Tribune reported.

The driver was able to back up a bit after he hit the wall, but a mob descended on him, thinking he was trying to flee.

“They immediately dragged him out of the car,” 31-year-old eyewitness Joshua Montana said. “He tried to run for his life. People were rather upset, kicking and punching. He was saying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!’ ”

Stingaree owner James Brennan said the scene “looked like a war zone.”

Police said alcohol did not appear to be a factor. They had not arrested the taxi driver as of Tuesday.

“We are treating this as an unfortunate accident,” O’Hanlon said.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing clients in cases involving pedestrian injuries and fatalities since 1976. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.